A Test of Faith
by TheForgottenName
Summary: They'd always been together. The inseparable twins. Together the six of them made the Teen Titans. Teens with secrets and deep jealousy. And like all secrets, they soon begin begin to unravel
1. Boredom is a Curse

Hola my fellow readers. I'm BACK! I thought I'd write out something that has been playing in my mind for a while. I'm sure you've read the summery or else you wouldn't have clicked on this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing...but Blue Jay. Muah ha ha ha ha haaaa *cough cough* Sorry. On with the story!

**_A Test of Faith_**

* * *

><p>They'd always been together.<p>

'The Grayson Twins' that's what people had always called them. The prince of Gotham and the Grayson Twins.

No amount of threats and punishment could possibly keep them away from each other.

Dick and Nick. The inseparable twins.

Dick, naturally being the oldest, had always felt as if, instead of being seconds apart, he was years. Every minute of the day, he shared with his younger brother. Laughing and pulling pranks on there old butler.

Though easily mistaken for each other, the British butler always seemed to tell them apart. It annoyed them both to no end to think that their own adoptive father had always had a hard time telling them apart, yet the elderly butler had no trouble at all.

Though, Alfred was much more than a butler to them. Ever since they were adopted at 9 he had been their chafer, homework helper, chef, and guardian. There very own grandfather.

Now at 15, he was still all these things.

Ever since the falling out they had had with Bruce the two had set off on their own. The only one they had kept in touch with, ironically was Alfred.

He demanded to know where they were quite often. If Alfred had been a few years younger, he would have passed for their guardian quite well.

Now in Jump City, Dick and Nick, remained extremely close. Although they were now known as Robin and Blue Jay.

After only being in Jump for a couple of hours the two had already found themselves already in the mix of a heated battle.

They met a beautiful princess named Starfire, who Robin had called dibs on right away. She had intoxicating crimson hair that fell all the way down to her hips. She carried herself in a way the could only be said to be like a princess. Though, while fighting you may miss it. She kept her dainty ways, but quickly ignored them when or if she felt some of her friends were in danger. Her strength in itself was remarkable, but with the help of her solar powered 'starbolts' as she called them, she seemed almost invincible. Her relationship with Robin could only be seen as 'magical.' The two just..._had _something. His obsessive, dark, and focused ways of life collided with her happy carefree way. He had always liked her, and any male with eyes could see that she was attractive, but when he began to actually _love _her was beyond him.

She was always happy and smiling at something, but she seemed almost like the hooded girl Raven when they had first met. Raven had hid herself under a dark blue cloak. Even to this day, she preferred not to show her face and emotions; although her emotions were never shown, hood up or hood down. She was level headed and was a small and petite girl. Hiding her body and leotard under her cloak. She possessed a strange dark power, that could only be said to 'frighten people.'

Her hard, detached personality clashed fiercely with the youngest on the team. Beast Boy, as he liked to be called, was a short boy with green hair, only shades darker than his actual body. His carefree and confident persona could be described as childlike, but in contrast with Raven's, it was welcome. Although it seemed as if they two would become nothing less than sworn enemies, a spark, a connection rather, was always present. He cared for her in a way that made her small show of emotions flutter. It was as if light and dark had clashed and made something beautiful.

Though the spark between Raven and Beast Boy was all but hidden to outsiders eyes, one relationship that was evident was between him and Cyborg. The half human, half robot being, could at times seem monstrous, but anyone who took the time to really look at him could easily see that not only was he a genius being but a soft loving human inside. He was serious occasionally, but his happy fun-loving side showed much more often.

Together the six of them made the Teen Titans. Teen hero's of the world. Sworn to protect the innocent people. Risking there lives everyday, so that the innocent didn't have to. Blah blah blah. Beneath all this heroism was just normal teenagers. Normal hormonal, emotional, mentally unstable teenagers. Teens with feelings and hidden feelings and deep jealousy. But like all secrets, they begin to unravel. And when one piece unravels the rest falls suite.

* * *

><p>Robin cracked open a sleepy eye. He sent himself into a slight panic as he realized that he was staring into a intense light. <em>Was he dieing? Was he in the infirmary?<em>

He couldn't piece together what had caused him injury.

After blinking a few times he came to realization that the bright light was actually the sun shining in through his windows. He chuckled at his own panic attack and threw the covers off himself.

He looked out his open curtains. A slightly cloudy overcast lay above. His cracked window let in a refreshing breeze, pushing his curtains slightly in a tangle of the wind. In the few light that had shown in, danced dust particles. They flittered this way and that, free and uncaring.

In a way, that was what Robin and Blue Jay had wanted. A life free and uncaring. Helping people this way and that, not bond by their ruthless guardian. Now that he had a team though, Robin felt as if he was once again bond to people.

Not that he minded. Being bond by friends was a lot different than being bond by a moody crusader. No one here told him that his triple back hand spring was to sloppy or that his stamina was slipping and he needed to exercise more. Here, his friends admired his moves and praised his abilities, despite not having powers.

Shaking his matted down hair, Robin made his way to his bathroom.

After a quick shower and countless minutes of trying to tame his untrainable hair, Robin made his way to the common room. Although it was still early he could hear someone moving on the other side of the sliding door.

His reflexes kicked in as his over analyzing brain went to work. If it was Beast Boy, no doubt he would be louder than this, not that he was _ever _up so early.

The same went with Cyborg. Although his structure was impeccable, he was still heavy footed.

If it was Raven, Robin doubted if he would hear anything at all. Plus, she almost always had a cup of herbal tea going.

Robin could almost always tell when it was his brother. They had a certain bond. He knew his brothers moves before his brother even knew them. He knew what his brother was thinking before his brother could even think them.

That only left one person...

Sliding open the door Robins heart skipped a beat. Even if he anticipated Starfire being up, it didn't prove to prepare him. He almost always felt a heart attack on the horizon when he was with her. And now here they were...up early...alone.

Robin took a deep breath before walking into the common room.

Starfire was dressed as usual. Her short purple miniskirt sending shock waves down Robin's back. Her short tank top drawing Robins eyes to them. Her ruby hair looked as if they themselves were made of strawberries that Robin wanted to stuff his face into. _Had she any idea what she was doing to him?_

"Good morning, friend Robin." she said cheerfully.

Robin wanted to test himself. How long did it take before her infectious smile spread through him, making him smile.

"Hey Star." he replied grinning. Not very long.

He walked towards the kitchen where she was currently making something unearthly.

"What are you making?" he asked, staring intently at the oddly pink colored object she was stirring in a pot.

Robin was sure to keep his distance from it, but it _did _seem to have a smell that seemed to be begging him to come forward.

"It's is a traditional Tameranian dish, Gogleblorg." she replied, adding something that seemed to be moving, into the pot.

Robin shook his head absently. The smell drew him in, yes, but whatever she just added, well lets just say it seemed to be pleading for it's life.

At that moment Starfire snapped her fingers,as if she forgot something.

"Oh, X'hal." she said, sounding upset. "I forgot the Glorkaberries."

Hating to see her upset, Robin looked at her to see how he could make her feel better. But Starfire seemed to already have found the answer.

Robin watched her as she turned and walked towards the kitchen cabinet. She made her way over, dripping some of the Gogleblorg from the spoon she was carrying. She began rummaging through the cabinet, humming a peaceful tune.

"Need any help?" he asked to her backside.

Robin couldn't help but notice how perfectly round and entrancing her backside was.

Starfire shook her head no at his help. She looked up realizing that what she wanted was on the top shelf. After realizing that she couldn't reach, she flew up and grabbed it.

Making her way back to the pot, she slipped on some of the Gogleblorg she had spilled from the spoon. She gave a squeal and dropped whatever she was holding onto the floor.

Robin was quick to react. He reached out and caught her just as she was heading down.

She landed with a 'oomph' onto his chest. Robin realized that his left hand was sprawled on her hip and his right hand wrapped around her back.

Robin looked down at her, realizing every movement she made. He could feel her eyes, boring holes through his mask. He could feel all her weight pressed against him and her hands that were splayed on his chest as well.

His breathing suddenly became deeper as she slowly rose towards his face. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her extremely kissable pink lips. His head involuntarily began to meet her halfway.

They were so close that he could feel her minty breath on his lips. His spine was tingling and he felt like if he were to do anything rash that he would drop her.

They were _so_ close. He parted his lips, ready for the pleasure he knew he would feel from her. But right as their lips were about to touch the common room door opened and a still tired looking Raven walked in.

They were quick to part. Starfire stood next to him, much closer than any normal _friend _would, with her hands clasped behind her back. Robin immediately looked down, hoping his hair could cover at least _some _of his increasingly red face.

While looking down, though he had a perfectly good view of Stars chest. He quickly turned his head away, scolding himself for being a pervert. Starfire should have more respect than that, he thought.

"Um...hello friend Raven." Starfire said, seeming as if nothing had happened.

"Erm, yeah, hey Rae." Robin said playing along.

He hoped she hadn't seen anything, but the look on her face proved him wrong. Her mouth was slightly ajar. Her hand was still on her head from when she walked in, wiping a strand of dark purple hair from her face and her eye brows were high arches on her head.

The hard core look Raven was now giving him made Robin uncomfortable. She seemed to want to drop him into a portal to a very dark place.

When she switched her gaze to Starfire, Robin almost wanted to stand in front of her, just so Star couldn't see the vicious look she was getting. "Star and I were just-" Robin started, trying to get Ravens evil glare off of Starfire.

"-I don't care _what_ you do or _when_ you do it." Raven snapped, cutting him off.

She marched back through the doors, fuming.

Robins face was still beat red, but putting it aside he bent down and began to pick up whatever Starfire had dropped when she tripped.

Was he really about to kiss her? He wondered.

He loved her, yes, but was his feelings one sided after all?

It _was _possible that she actually liked him back.

But then, what was up with Raven. She was grouchy a lot, but never snapping at him like that. Had he even done something wrong? Maybe she was just overwhelmed by the emotions she felt in the room. Or maybe she was just startled by seeing them so close.

Whatever it was, he'd apologize for it later.

Starfire bent down beside him and helped pick up the reddish berries that were splattered across the kitchen floor.

She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him just as much as he was avoiding contact with him.

"Why do you think friend Raven snapped at us?" Starfire asked.

"I dont know." he responded truthfully.

Starfire had seen lately that Raven was strangely more...agitated. Trying to cheer her up Starfire had asked her to go shopping with her, suggested a sleepover, anything to get Raven out of the funk she was currently in, but of course, Raven refused.

Starfire wondered if it was anything she had done to make her upset. Surely Robin would never do anything purposely to anger anyone.

The moment she thought his name a blush came to her face.

She felt stupid for what she was about to do. In all honesty though, she had know idea _what _she about to do. Sure, he caught her in a compromising position, but it was just to help her. Sure he held her longer than necessary, but was that his fault or hers? So many questions.

She was merely doing what she had seen on TV. Or...was she acting out of instinct? Deciding to push the thought away for later she gathered the last bit of berries and rinsed them off in the sink.

Robin offered to stay and help, but she was embarrassed enough. She instead asked him to wake the others for breakfast.

Robin was more than happy to leave her presence.

The fact that they had almost kissed was still lingering in his mind. Did she lean in on her own accord or did he unconsciously persuade her to do so? Would she even _want _to kiss him? Did she even know what a kiss was?

That was a topic he chose not to get to deep into. He tried to push the thoughts away. He normally chose to think about the heavy stuff later on in the day. Preferably in the shower, and not so early in the morning.

Coming up to Beast Boys room he knocked heavily, knowing full well that the green changeling hated waking up almost as much as he hated meat.

When he heard nothing he entered the override code the door and walked in.

Piles of clothes and trash were strewn about everywhere, an odd smell was emanating from what seemed like everywhere, but there was no Beast Boy.

Scratching his head, Robin wondered what had prompted the changeling to be up so early.

Hearing a breaking in the wind behind him, Robin quickly crouched down towards the dirty floor and back flipped out the room standing in a fighting stance.

Looking back into the room, Robin saw Beast Boy, laying on the floor and twisted in odd angles.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked, walking into the room and looking at the spot Beats Boy had just previously occupied.

"Surprise." Beast Boy said in a pained sarcastic voice.

Robin figured Beast Boys was just trying to catch him off guard and decided to press it no farther.

"Breakfast in five minutes." he said turning around.

"Is it vegetarian?" asked Beast Boy, finally standing up out of his uncomfortable position.

"I have no idea." Robin answered back to Beast Boy.

-ATOF-

Raven recited her mantra in a low, comforting voice.

She had blown a gasket back there. And for what? Raven herself wasn't sure.

What was the big deal? Sure there were a lot of feelings coming from the room, but none of them concerned her, so why was she still thinking about it? And why was her powers suddenly going haywire.

She ignored the dark pillows that floated around her and focused more on containing her powers.

Robin and Starfire were her friends. Robin especially. No, wait. Shouldn't it be Starfire especially?

Her and Starfire were the only girls on the team. Shouldn't they be the closest on the team?

Yet, Raven couldn't bring her self to say that Starfire was her bestest friend. Best friend, sure. In a over hyper, much-to-joyous, weird language kind of way.

Immediately Raven scolded herself for thinking about Starfire that way. If not for Starfire, she might be in Azarath right now. Starfire _was _from another planet. Why wasn't she giving her any credit? She deserved it.

Robin, though, seemed to be who Raven was most comfortable with. He never seemed irritated at her chronic mantra repeating. Although, neither did Starfire, she found herself more at ease around Robin.

When she was with Starfire, she found she always had to choose her words carefully, so not to hurt her feelings and so that she'd be able to understand her. But with Robin, he seemed to understand almost everything. He had a calm personality that always put her at ease. Even when he was confused about something, he organized his mind so that at least he was confused neatly.

Raven was pulled out her mind by a knocking on her door.

Irritated she walked over to her door.

When she found that it was Robin, her irritation went away. She wanted to apologize for snapping at him and Starfire like that. Truthfully she had no idea what had prompted that, but nevertheless, she was sorry.

"Hey, Rae." he said sheepishly.

Raven could feel that he had something he wanted to say, so she waited.

Looking at Raven, she still seemed angry at something. She stood staring at him, waiting. Robin hated being expected to something. It always made him nervous.

"Um...breakfast will be ready soon." he said and turned to leave.

The way she was staring at him creeped him out, and he wasn't creeped out by much.

He heard her give a deep sigh and immediately he felt guilty. He wasn't sure what had pissed her off, but she seemed really down by it. If it was something he had did, he was sorry.

"Raven, look. About what happened in the kitchen-" he started, not quite sure where he was going with it.

Raven perked up, seeing him turn back around.

Maybe he was going to say something along the lines of 'I don't know what I was thinking. Me and Star are just friends. Nothing more. Promise.'

Although it wouldn't _really _be any of her business, the thought had lifted her spirits considerably.

Why she wanted to hear that Robin and Starfire were nothing more than friends was beyond her. She didn't have feelings for Robin, so why did it matter. She didn't. Right?

"Rae, im sorry you saw what you saw," He started. "or...felt what you felt. I'm not sure exactly what happened-"

Raven tunes the rest of his apology out. Obviously he wasn't going to say 'I'm in love with someone more reasonable than her. Someone who wears a shakra, actually.'

For what seemed like the millionth time that day she scolded herself. Getting between Robin and Starfire would be like getting in the middle of a battle field and screaming 'Peace.' Someone was bond to shoot her, accident or not, and she wouldn't be surprised if it happened to be Starfire who shouted 'Fire!'. Beneath all that happy energy lay a warrior. She knew, she had seen it.

What she really needed was to plan her moves carefully. She needed a coordinated plan to get in between the two and prove that he needed to be with _her, _not Starfire.

Raven noticed that Robin had stopped talking and was looking at her expectantly.

"Uh...it's okay." she said, trying to play it safe.

It seemed like a good enough answer. Robin gave one of his boyish smiles and turned, leaving down the hall.

_So does this mean you love him? _Her lustful inner voice asked.

Raven wasn't sure if _love _was the proper term, but if saying she was in love convinced herself to give her all, than so be it. She loved him.

_Ravens in love. Ravens in love. _Sang her happy self. She was _actually _taunting her. So what if she was in love. At least it was to someone worthy.

Starfire did have good taste. Robin was worth it.

Unfortunately, Starfire knew this too. Robin was worth it, but how could she get Starfire out of the picture without making either suspicious?

She'd have to meditate on it, but for now, breakfast was ready.

-ATOF-

As Robin made his way to Cyborg's room, the entire hallway was suddenly engulfed in red. A loud alarm gave a warning that someone was in danger.

Before Robin could even knock on the door, Cyborg burst out the room. Neither spoke as they dashed down the hall together. Cyborg's heavy feet completely drowned out the sound of the alarm in Robin's ears. His own quiet feet seemed to shutter whenever one of Cyborg's feet touched the ground.

Robin made a mental note to add stealth practice into training sessions.

When they reached the common room, Raven was already typing on the computer.

"Report." Robin said sternly.

He kept his calm, even as his adrenaline pulsed through his every vein.

"The docks." Raven spoke, a twinge of anticipation in her usually monotone voice.

"Any idea who we're dealing with?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven gave a shake of her head.

And with that, the Titans were off.

Flying down the street on his R-Cycle, Robin glanced above him.

Starfire was flying above him, to his right, as she normally did. It always reassured him that she was in the same spot as always, that way he'd have a easier time finding her.

Raven, who was normally just behind him, was directly to his left. Much closer than she usually was. Robin wondered why she was almost ahead of him. The thought made him uneasy. Were they dealing with someone so bad that_ Raven _wanted to get there quickly? The fact that they had no idea who they were dealing with did nothing to calm Robins nerves. So he sped his bike up.

Beast Boy watched as Robin hit the acceleration button. Even in his cheetah form, Beast Boy wouldn't be able to keep up. If the docks were close by than yeah, he could do it. But seeing as the docks were still about a mile away, he knew that he couldn't do that.

Transforming into a hawk he flew up alongside Starfire and Raven. Both were effortlessly keeping up with Robin.

Glancing down, he swore Cyborg was smiling. Anytime Cyborg got to over 80 miles an hour in his T-Car made him happy. He'd laugh as he moved the shift and press harder on the pedal.

Beast Boy couldn't very well just fly into a car going that fast. Plus, whenever Cyborg drove this fast, he became kinda reckless. Beast Boy may not have won any academy awards for being smart, but he was a born survivor, and getting in the car with Cyborg would lessen his surviving chances considerably.

So, he did the next best thing; he tried to get a ride with one of the girls.

He flew over to Raven and gently perched himself on her shoulder, silently asking permission, since Hawks and animals cant talk.

Raven shrugged her shoulders, knocking him off.

Beast Boy tried again, this time turning into something akin to a green tweety bird, so as not to bother her with his size.

This time, she glanced down at him with four red eyes.

"Don't touch me." she glared, in a voice that wasn't hers.

Beast Boy was so shocked that he let the wind currents push him off. What was her problem? _Geeze. _He only wanted a ride. No one but him had to _actually _work to get to where he wanted to go.

Turning into a eagle, he attempted to try and ride the wind currents, but they were going the opposite way. He huffed as well as a eagle could, flapping his wings frantically and wearily at the same time, trying to keep up.

Glancing over, he noticed that Starfire was staring at him. She held out her arm the way a bird lover would do if they wanted the bird to land on their arm.

Beast Boy took the hint and, with great effort, he landed on her arm.

Shifting back to a tweety bird, so he didn't slow her down, he held on to her arm tightly with his wings so that he wouldn't fly off.

Surprisingly, she took his small form into her right hand and closed her left hand over top of it, creating a cage-like structure.

Beast Boy finally took a deep breath.

Robin looked up into the sky again. Strangely, he didn't see any green animals. Glancing in back of him, he looked in the T-Car. He saw a immensely happy looking Cyborg, but no Beast Boy. He did a few more glances around. He could find no green feathered road runners or any other animal Beast Boy would become.

He was beginning to worry when he glanced back up at Starfire. She held her hands to her chest, seemingly holding something.

After a lot of squinting, he noticed that she was holding something green. With a twinge of jealousy he realized that she was carrying Beast Boy in some smaller form.

He grit his teeth, focusing back onto the road.

Finally arriving at the docks Starfire landed.

She set the small green bird on the ground and watched as he shifted into Beast Boy. He smiled at her sheepishly.

"Heh, thanks Star. Kinda got tired goin so fast." he admitted.

"That is not a problem, friend. Anytime necessary." she responded joyously.

Really he hadn't bothered her. His feathers tickled her hands making her giggle. The happiness she felt when laughing actually _helped _her fly. She did have a problem, however.

Glancing down at Robin whiles flying, she noticed that he was extremely tense. Though not very uncommon when they were about to enter a battle, he didn't normally tense up when he was on his R-Cycle. That was one of the few places he actually seemed at ease.

She wondered if he knew some unspoken bit of information that had him on end.

He was still tense as he removed his helmet.

Starfire put a hand on his shoulder, trying to lend silent strength and comfort him. It seemed to work as he smiled at her, but it quickly vanished when they heard a splash coming from the water, right off one of the docks.

Robin pulled out his bo-staff and made his way closer to the water.

Raven levitated closely behind him as did Starfire. Cyborg's hand was transformed into his sonic cannon and Beats Boy was a tiger, ready to pounce.

Robin, peeked over the dock edge, looking into the water.

In the clear, blueness of the water he realized that something small and dark was floating in it, just below the surface.

Extending his staff, he poked it. When nothing happened he poked it again.

This time, the small something seemed to cloud. It made the water around it a inky black, and suddenly, with a small splash, it exploded from the water, shooting straight up into the air.

Robin took a few rapid steps back, almost stepping on a now human Beast Boy as he stared into the air.

The suns rays caught whatever was in the air and temporarily blinded Robin. He brought his head down and began rubbing his eyes, trying to see again.

He was gaining back his vision when he heard the familiar cry of Beast Boy.

"I'm dead!" he screamed "I've been shot!"

Robin looked as Beast Boy ran around in circles holding his head. Clearly he hadn't been shot. Robin hadn't even heard gunfire.

Robin looked down at where Beast Boy had been standing. There, on the ground lay a single card. Bending down, he picked it up and turned it over. He was both shocked and surprised to find it had a joker on it.


	2. Messages

Standing up, Robin felt a small wave of panic rush through.

_Are you okay? _Came Ravens voice in his head.

Obviously she had sensed his uneasiness, the two _did _have a psychic connection.

Wordlessly he turned the card towards her. She didn't seem to get much out of it, and why should she? He was the only who really knew what kind of person the Joker was. He killed people for fun, for entertainment. That in itself was pure madness.

Suddenly a loud roaring sound was heard. Robin turned his head towards the sound.

A similar bike to the R-Cycle was stopping right besides Robin's.

A black helmet was removed from the rider only to reveal Blue Jay. He had been out all day, taking care of some things in Gotham. He must have gotten home and found out where they were.

"What are we dealing with?" he asked as he made his way over.

Again, robin wordlessly flipped over the card.

Robin could see Blue Jays eyes get bigger beneath his mask. Make that two people who really knew what kind of a madman the Joker was.

But could this one card be all he needed to prove that this was the Joker. What if someone just wanted to scare them?

"Robbie!" shout someone from behind.

All at once the team whipped around.

"And, of course Jay Jay."

A tall, skinny man was standing just a few feet away. He had bright green hair and a face that looked like it was covered in makeup. Only few people knew that that was his actual skin. He lips were curled up into a permanent smile, stained in red lip stick. His chaotic green and purple outfit could only be described as a clowns suite.

Behind him was a woman. She had a joker hat on with two bells at the tips of the hat, jiggling as she moved. She had on a black a red outfit, mix matched with card symbols on them. She carried a large hammer like weapon with her, and she had two hyenas at her side. Both growling menacingly.

"Hey boys." she smiled, talking in her New York accent.

Both Robin and Blue Jay got into a fighting stance, although they knew the joker was more of a prank kind of person.

The team followed. Beast Boy in Rhino form, Cyborg's arm in sonic cannon mode, and both girls eyes and hands light with power.

"Relax kiddies." Joker said, moving his arms like he was trying to get a dog to sit. "I'm not here for fun and games."

Robin relaxed a bit, but he never let his guard down. Rule number 4 of training with Batman.

"Yeah, were here as mutual friends." Harley cut, bouncing back and forth on her heals.

"Although, I can see why your so uptight. Although your never not." Joker murmured the last part quietly. "We didn't leave on the happiest of times."

"You tried to kill us." Blue Jay clarified.

"Cant we let bygones be bygones?" asked Harley sweetly. "We _did _get cha ta laugh."

"Laughing gas hardly counts as a willing laugh." Robin spoke.

Joker waved him off. "Look kid, were not here to fight you. Were here to deliver a message."

"A message? For us?" Beast Boy said, finally getting over his shock that the _Joker _was here. In Jump City. The villains of all villains was _here_. _In _Jump City. And he was prepared to fight him

"Yups. It's from the boss man." Harley said, a look of disgust crossing her face at the word 'boss.'

"Funny," Blue Jay smirked "Never thought of you two as the taking orders type."

"Were not." Joker said, completely serious. Oddly enough, he was scarier serious than he was happy and manically.

"Our message is this: Were watching you." Joker said, and in a instant his face was cheerful and deranged again.

"Thats it?" asked a disbelieving Cyborg. "Thats all some mysterious guy has to say?"

"Well," Harley cut "Were not here ta read ga a letta."

"And who is this 'boss man?'" Raven asked, speaking for the first time.

"Cant tell ya, it's a secret." Harley answered "Oh, and by da way, Raja is it?"

"Raven." she corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, _Raven. _Your look is kinda...oh I dont know...dark. You should lighten it up, right Mista Jay?"

She turned towards Joker.

"Right you are Harley." he answered. "What do you say we add a little...color to the team."

Within seconds the Joker had pulled out a few cards and threw them towards the Titans. Before any of them could move, they were engulfed in colorful smoke.

By time the smoke cleared, The Joker, Harley and the hyenas were gone.

"Did we win?" asked a confused Beast Boy.

Everyone shook their head at him and made their way to the vehicles.

The girls and Beast Boy decided to catch a ride back with Cyborg.

Robin kicked up his kickstand and revved his engine before riding off down the road. Blue Jay rode up beside him and tapped his helmet twice.

Getting the message, Robin turned on his helmet head set, enabling him to talk with his brother.

"Somethings not right." Robin spoke plainly.

"I know." Blue Jay replied. "When does the _Joker _take orders from someone else?"

"He doesn't. Not even when there's something in it for him."

"Who do you think their working for?"

"I dont know. And in all honesty, I dont think _they _know either."

"But whose powerful enough to convince the _Joker_ to do his dirty work, and still remain anonymous?"

"Think it might be Slade?" Robin asked

"I guess it's possible. Not likely, but possible. But who would the 'Were' be in the message."

"Maybe Slade's teamed up with someone"

"Who would _Slade _team up with? Besides this just doesn't feel like a Slade kinda thing. Slade likes to show off his accomplishments. Not hire madmen to do them."

"I dont know, but I'll still look into it." Robin said, turning off his head set.

Blue Jay knew, once Robin thought Slade was on a case, he wasn't giving up. Not that he normally did, but whenever Slade was involved, Robin was _going _to get to the bottom of this. Or possibly crack under it, and that _had_ happened before.

It was those times that Blue Jay feared. Those times when Robin got caught up in his work and became Robin full time instead of Robin's appearance and Dick's personality. Whenever Robin fell into this workaholic schedule Blue Jay had to become Nick.

He had to be that little brother who made sure Robin showered and brushed his teeth every morning. He'd end up carrying Robin to his room after he fell asleep at his desk, or tying him up and spoon feeding him, so that he wouldn't collapse if they had to go and defend the city.

Nick didn't want to have to force his brother to eat, or make him take a shower. He was perfectly happy when Robin was the big brother and was in charge, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and Nick refused to let Dick or Robin down.

Robin could be a pain sometimes, and Nick expected no less. They _were _brothers, but he wasn't taking care of Robin _all _by himself. The only person who actually resorted tying Robin up, besides him,was Starfire. She had once even hung him upside down from the ceiling. As hard as it was swallowing upside down she had made sure he finished everything that was on his plate. She only let him down when he almost choked trying to swallow his orange juice.

He had literally applauded her that day. She had allowed him to train peacefully without worrying that Robin would just dump his food into the trash can and keep working, something he had done many times.

Starfire had saved Robin from falling into that pit of obsession and depression so many times. She pulled him out of that gloom at times when Nick never could. Whatever she did, she did it good. But how could Robin not be uplifted by her beautiful personality. She was brave as any male hero he had ever met. She so happy and cheerful that you'd have to be a fool not to smile when she looked at you. And probably the most noticeable thing about her was that she was beyond gorgeous.

He silken ruby hair and perfectly tanned skin was enough to send any man into a pole. As much as Nick wanted to have a shot with her, his brother had claimed that spot a long time ago. Not that she was something to be won, but Nick agreed not to make any advances towards her heart.

Yet, how could he stop loving the Tameranian beauty? Though spoken for, he couldn't stop from looking at her from afar. He couldn't stop looking adoringly at her when she asked a question, or tilted her head cutely to the side when confused.

No one said he couldn't be her friend, so he had to settle on that being good enough. Though he'd still watched from afar, he'd just have to be careful that Robin never noticed his staring.

As the city came into view he relaxed a bit. Joker was probably trying to scare them or send them running back to Batman. Starfire wasn't his problem, she was Robins. The world wasn't falling apart. He just needed to let off some steam with training. Or maybe he'd go for a run.

He sped up a bit next to the T-Car and glanced inside.

Cyborg and Beast Boy was laughing at some unheard joke. Even Raven looked slightly amused. Starfire, though, looked deep in thought. She stared out the window looking a bit ahead of him. He turned his head, following her gaze.

Of course, It was his brother. Figured. You'd have to be blind not to see that the two of them were in love. Unfortunately, the two of them were pretty blind. And deaf. They were completely oblivious to the fact that the other liked them. They danced around each other, always falling into these awkward situations the Robin always beat himself up over.

As amusing as it was, and as much as he loved her, Blue Jay really _did _want to see the two together. If anyone but him was to have her, he wanted it to be his brother. He cast a final look at her, before falling behind the T-Car.

-ATOF-

She couldn't help but stare. She knew Robin was confused, the encounter they had just had was nonetheless, awkward. She wondered why the man 'Joker' had been dressed like that. Did he think that was cool? Did he know he looked like a clown? Maybe the look went with the name, but Starfire wasn't really sure on what 'Joker' meant, so she wasn't sure.

Robin would lock himself in his room for a while trying to figure this out, that much she knew. She'd let him brood for a few hours while she planned up how she would make him eat. Nowadays, she had to get creative. He wouldn't sit in a chair when she came in the room and he'd hide the tape or whatever would be strong enough to hold him to the ceiling.

Perhaps she could get him between the mattress and sit on him. It would certainly be funny, but he wouldn't be very happy with her. Although, he was less than thrilled when she tapped him to the ceiling. She had nearly had a heart attack when started choking on his juice. She swore that day that she would never make him eat upside-down again.

"Um, Star, you wanna get out?"

Starfire snapped her head towards Cyborg's voice. Looking out the window she realized that they were in the garage. She hadn't even noticed when they had arrived at the Tower. Laughing sheepishly, she got out of the car.

The others were waiting for her and Cyborg in the elevator. She stood next to Raven, who was standing next to Robin. Normally Raven was as far away from everyone as she could get.

The moment the doors to the elevator closed she looked towards Robin, who was staring at her.

He mouthed the words 'R U Okay.' She shook her head and gave a reassuring smile. He returned the smile and focused on the ride of the elevator.

-ATOF-

The moment they had arrived Raven had rushed to stand next to Robin. And now here he was, staring at Starfire. What was she, invincible?

But the staring didn't last long, he soon focused his attention to the movement of the elevators. Raven breathed in his scent. It was just so...manly. That was the only word that same to her mind. It suited him. Though he wasn't quite a man yet, he acted like one, most of the time.

She liked when he acted like a man. It made him seem more serious. She liked serious.

All to soon, the elevator stopped and everyone got off.

It wasn't very late yet. The sun was just a little bit more than halfway across the sky. Raven decided she'd do some meditating before Cyborg made dinner. She was sure Robin would lock himself in his room anyway, so what was the need for her to be outside her room.

When the ding sounded Cyborg got off. His level was the closest to the garage, the way he liked it. Ravens level was next followed by Beast Boys. The next level belonged to the Starfire and Robin and the top level belonged to Blue Jay.

Starfire and Robin both got off the elevator.

Starfire began to make her way down to her room when Robin grabbed her arm. Her heart skipped a beat at his touch and the skin around his hand felt as if it was on fire. Despite her inner battle to put out the fire, she turned to him rather casually and gave him a smile.

"Your sure your okay?" he asked.

Starfire was genuinely touched at his concern for her. He was always asking if one of the team member were alright, but after they responded that they were fine he usually left them alone. Yet, here he was asking her again.

"I am fine Robin. I was merely, how you say 'lost in thought.'"

Robin eased his grip on her and let her arm slip out.

"Alright." he said, although concern was still in his voice.

Turning around, Starfire held the small patch of skin that Robin had held. It still felt as if it was burning. She wasn't going to run in her room and scream 'He touched me! He actually touched me!' but something inside of her _did _want to scream. Robin and her touched all the time. Probably more than he touched anyone else on team, why was it that everytime they made contact she felt the need to screech.

She planned on just going into her room and maybe letting out a high pitched squeal into her pillow, but the moment she opened her door she froze.

"Robin!" she screamed.

Robin dropped the papers that he had previously been holding when he heard Starfire scream his name.

Rushing out his room he ran down the hall to where she was still frozen. Her arm was still reached out from when she had entered her code. She seemed frozen, like some kind of beautiful statue.

"Whats wrong?" he asked running up beside her.

The rest of the questions dropped as he looked into her room.

It looked as a tornado had run through the place. All the small, stuffed teddy bears that had previously adorned her bed were probably missing since the few that were seen were either ripped or up in a place it shouldn't have been. The walls had holes in them and it looked like someone with a torch had decorated the walls because a lot of the paint had melted off.

Even the bed was flipped over and seemingly crushed in half.

But none of the wreckage was what caught Robin off guard. On one of her walls, written in dripping red paint was the word 'Be.' It made no sense to him why It would be there or what it even meant, but clearly someone had it out for her.

He did a eye sweep of her room again. Whoever was here was long gone by now. Turning around, he realized that Starfire was still frozen, her arm up as if she still needed to type in her code.

He carefully went over to her and grabbed her wrist from behind her. With great effort, he was able to get her to put her arm down. The second it was at her side, though, she began shake violently. She began to sniff and Robin realized she was about to cry.

Without thinking, he turned her away from her room and wrapped his arms around her. She was still shaking but she calmed down considerably. Deciding that they should tell the team, he began moving her down the hallway, but halfway there she froze completely and her more violent shaking was back.

Instead of trying to get her to move, he picked her up bridle style and pressed the elevator button. Robin relaxed a bit when she again calmed down in his arms.

A deep blush came to his face when he realized just where he was and who he was holding. As awkward as it was, he was oddly relaxed. Comfortable even.

He passed Raven, Beast Boys and Cyborgs levels and stopped at the main level. A strong smell of something cheesy filled his nose. He was so hungry that he almost forgot that Starfire was in his arms. Looking down at her, realized that she crying now. Her small, precious tears slid down her cheeks and onto his shirt.

Making his way down the hallway, he could hear Beast Boy and Cyborgs arguing.

"Cyborg but the chicken DOWN!" he heard Beast Boy shout.

"No way, man. This chicken's already dead. There's nothing more you can do!" Cyborg argued.

"You mine-as-well throw me in the pan too, then!"

"Fine! You think you can turn into a pig, so I can wrap this chicken in bacon!"

"Your a monster!"

"And your an appetizer. Come 'ere."

The sound a rooster screeching, feathers falling, Cyborgs heavy feet, and now the sound of Blue Jay trying to calm them both down brought a small smile to Robins face. Looking down it grew when he realized it brought a smile to Starfire's face as well.

She wiped her face of tears, but put up no indication that she wanted to get down.

Opening the common room door, robin found that it was covered in feathers. Standing in the middle of it all was Blue Jay. He was standing on one foot, using the other to hold Cyborg back. In his arms he held a balding green chicken that was trying to escape his hands.

"Oh thank god someone else is here." he breathed, but stopped short when he saw that Robin was carrying Starfire.

"Whats wrong." he asked, all previous joking aside.

"Someone broke in. They trashed Stars room." Robin explained.

"What!" screeched Cyborg "Impossible. No one breaks into _my_ tower undetected."

He ran over to the large screen in the living room and began typing furiously.

"Did you get a good look at the guy? Maybe I can find his scent." Beast Boy offered.

"He's long gone now." Robin said, reluctantly putting Starfire down. "But they left a message- sorta."

"I'm glad your okay, Star." Beast Boy said, putting a hand on her arm.

She smiled her gratitude and walked over to where Cyborg was.

"Look." Cyborg said pointing to the screen "No indications of someone breaking in."

"Then were dealing with someone good." Blue Jay said, standing besides Robin. "Were the censors cut off or rewired at anytime today?"

Cyborg shook his head.

"The place was completely locked down and says we were the only ones here today."

Footsteps were heard and everyone turned around only to find that it was Raven. She looked fairly uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on her.

"What?" she asked.

"Someone broke in." Blue Jay answered "They came in and trashed Star's room. But...did you say they left a message?" he asked, turning his attention to Robin.

"Kind of. On her wall, they left the word 'be' and that was it"

"Be?" Beast Boy asked "Be is kind of broad, y'know. Be-cause. Be-careful. Be-lieve. It could mean anything."

"I'm more concerned about why someone would target Starfire. The only person I can think of would be Blackfire. And I'm pretty sure she's in jail."

"Hey Rae," Robin asked "Do you think you could try and find some type of trace of the guy?"

She nodded her head. "I'll give it a try."

Everyone followed her up the stairs. The moment Starfire's door was open everyone seemed to take a step back.

Beast Boy turned into a hound dog, despite the person being long gone.

"Someone must really hate you Star." Cyborg said, lifting up one of the many pieces of her broken bed. "It may take me a day or two to fix this. And that's if I'm working really fast."

Starfire nodded her understanding.

"Be." Beast Boy read of the wall after finding no foreign smells. "Maybe it's backwards. Eb. Yeaaaaah, that doesn't make any sense. It's such a short word, theres not much you can do with it"

"No finger prints around here." Blue Jay said, throwing down a piece of her lamp that he had been looking at.

Raven came out her meditation stance she was in. "And I cant find any psychic residue either."

"Whoever was here is long gone now." Robin said, running a had through his hair.

Robin tapped his chin. Cyborg knew this sign. Robin was about to disappear in his room for a few days. Maybe even longer now, someone _did _mess with Starfire. It was pretty safe to say that he was in _love _with her. She was a sweet girl, but more of his younger sister than anything. That was one of the reasons Cyborg felt the need to punch something. Not only did someone break into _his _tower, but they just _had _to mess with his sister while they were at it.

What kind of sick world was this?

But if anyone was going to get to the bottom of this, it was going to be Robin. Although, Cyborg wished Robin didn't have to be so extreme when it came to solving crimes. Maybe all detectives did this.

Cyborg remembered his face when Robin came into the common room carrying Starfire. He had almost thought the two had finally gotten together, but one look at their faces and he was sure that that wasn't the case. When it came to...feelings...robin wasn't your go-to guy. He danced around them more than Beast Boy danced around meat. And that was lot.

If the two were ever going to get together, they'd need a little push. And that's exactly why when a certain thought came to mind, he took it gratefully. A evil smile came to his face and he looked to Beast Boy. If anyone was going to enjoy this as much as him, it was going to be Beast Boy.

"Well, y'all. Ain't nothin we can do now. I say we go and eat some food and then get some rest for tomorrow." he said loudly.

Everyone nodded their heads and made their way to the kitchen, but Cyborg grabbed Beast Boy by the collar and pulled him back.

"Hey, what gives man?" he complained.

Instead of apologizing though. He whispered something into Beast Boy's ear. With every word, a bigger smile appeared on the Changeling's face.

* * *

><p>AN: Sooooooo, what do you think so far?

I'm reallt trying to make it longer, y'know. I tried really hard to get the personalities right. I may still do a bit of editing in the future but i want to hear from you. Please post you comments. I dont want flames, but constructive cridisism is welcome...sorta. Remember, im fragile!


	3. Mind Games

I now present *drum roll* Chapter 3!

This one was kind of fun to write. Like most of my idea's; it just..._came _to me, y'know? We pick up from where we left off. The secret plan of Cyborg and Beast Boy. Can't wait for you to read. SO JUICY!

As always, we know I own nothin: EXCEPT BLUE JAY! Huzah! (how come no one ever says that anymore?)

* * *

><p>After dinner, the team voted Robin to do the dishes while Cyborg found Starfire a place to stay for the night.<p>

Naturally, and according to the plan, Cyborg dragged Beast Boy along with him.

"I have the perfect place for you to stay tonight." Cyborg said with a grin.

He held Starfire in font of him, leading her by her shoulders.

"Yeah Star, it's great. You'll loooove it." Beast Boy added.

"But friends," she objected "you have yet to tell me where."

Cyborg and Beast Boy shared and look.

"It's a surprise." they said simultaneously.

Stopping in front of the elevator, they made Starfire close her eyes. It being Starfire, they weren't worried about her peeking. Beast Boy pressed the level and they all waited for the _ding _that signaled the fact that they had reached the appointed level.

Still smiling, and making sure Starfire's eyes were closed, Beast Boy typed in the override code into their leaders room.

As expected, the room was so dark that neither boys or girl could see. This was what Cyborg had been counting on.

Closing the door behind him, he turned on his night vision in his robotic eye. Looking around, Robins room was as dark and gloomy as ever. He walked over to Robin dresser and pulled out a long t-shirt.

"You can open your eyes now!" Cyborg said, almost tripping over a nocturnal green cat.

Beast Boy watched in cat form as Starfire opened her eyes and tried to make sense of the dark room.

"It is very dark." she said plainly.

"Oh well, yeah it is." Cyborg said. "The lights here have...uh, blown out. So, dont try to fix it, cause..."

"You'll get electrocuted!" Beast Boys added, back in human form.

"Yup," Cyborg said nervously. "Shocked straight to ya core. We dont want a burnt up Star, now do we?"

"I suppose not." she said uncertain.

"Now, here's the bed." Cyborg said, leading her to Robins bed. "A shirt." he said placing the over sized T in her lap.

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy made there way to the door. Right they closed the door Beast Boys turned around.

"And no starbolts! You'll...uh..."

"Charge the electrons in the air and...uh..." added Cyborg

"Blow out the windows..."

"Disabling the...uh..."

"Security system, right Cyborg?"

"Yup, that's right, man. No powers allowed in here."

With that, they closed the door. As she changed into her shirt, she was sure she heard what sounded like a clap.

-ATOF-

Cyborg and Beast Boy both jumped up and gave each other hi-fives. The left down the hall and back to the elevator, imagining the face both teen would have when the realized the situation.

-ATOF-

Starfire really wished she could see. The whole predicament was rather...strange.

Laying down on the bed, she pulled the covers up to her chin. Something about the bed was very comforting. It was soft and bouncy, and the pillow that should have been at her feet was at her head. It felt oddly relaxing. Though the pillow smelt a little like...hair gel? Because she had never used it, she wasn't quite sure that that was the smell, but she was sure that the blankets and t-shirt reminded her of something. Or someone.

Pushing the deja vou to the back of her head she thought back to her room. Who would trash her room like that? Surely not Red X. He seemed to actually be _nice _her. Why was beyond her. He w as a villain, she was a hero, what could possibly cause him to be nice her?

Whatever the reason, she doubted it was him. Blackfire was still in jail. Slade was only interested in Robin, Dr. Light only wanted power for himself, Control Freak was to weird and impatient to plan some complicated scheme, The Puppet King would only want her soul, Cinderblock and Overlord just wanted to be more powerful, Plasmas liked to cause chaos in the city. Who could possibly want to do that to her room? And have skill. She remembered that. The culprit was good, and very sneaky.

She shook her head. Now was a time for rest. She trusted that her team would help her get to the bottom of this.

The window shook from the cold autumn breeze that pushed against it and somewhere in the distance, she heard the sound of thunder rumbling. She silently hoped that the storm went around them, she hated storms and lightning and thunder even more.

Breathing in the oddly familiar smell of the sheets and pillow, she was able to drift off into a somewhat peaceful sleep.

-ATOF-

Robin sighed as Beast Boy dropped another cup into the sink. He still had a mountain to wash, but he would probably be done if it weren't for Beast Boy and Cyborg. It seemed as if every cup he wash was replaced by two more. He couldn't understand how the two created more dishes. They had just eaten, surely they weren't _still _hungry. But then he was talking about Cyborg and Beast Boy. Those two out-ate each other for fun.

But he couldn't help think that the two _wanted _him to remain washing the dishes.

"A'ight man, I'm turnin in." Cyborg said, laying a heavy hand on his shoulder.

Robin blew out a breath of relief.

"yeah, dude me too. I'm beat." Beast Boy said, turning into a green bat and flying down the hallway.

Cyborg disappeared right behind him, leaving Robin to finally finish the dishes.

When he was finally finished, he took his time dragging himself to the elevator. He was tired from standing for so long and mentally exhausted. Their earlier encounter with the Joker had worked his mind all day. The Joker didn't work for people. He just...didn't. It wasn't in his nature.

So how could some group of people convince him to do it without giving some clue as to who they were. He thought about tracking down the Joker and asking him some questions, but he was pretty sure he didn't know much. The joker was the kind of person who bragged and joked about everything. If he was working for someone, he'd be sure to either let the team know straight up who or brag about the abilities the 'boss' had.

Getting off the elevator, Robin decided to figure it out in the morning. It was late and he was tired. He surely wasn't any help half asleep.

Typing in his code he walked into his room. He carelessly discarded his boots, belt, gloves, cape, and shirt onto the floor. Without much thought he fell back onto his bed, only to receive a high pitched scream.

Robin quickly rolled off his bed, startled to the extreme to say the least. He quickly turned on his light only to reveal Starfire...in a shirt that looked strangely familiar.

Robin held a hand to his heart, trying to calm his frantic heart beat.

"Starfire? What are you doing in my room?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

"Your room?" she repeated, looking around herself frantically. "Oh, my apologies friend! I was merely...but Beast Boy and Cyborg...and they said that..."

"Beast Boy and Cyborg?" Robin asked shaking his head. Of course those two were behind this.

Starfire began to try and stand up, but she was struggling to get the blankets off.

"I am _so_ sorry Robin." she apologized again "I'll leave right now and-"

"No, no, it's okay star you can stay." Robin said, grabbing her arms and trying to get to get her back into the bed.

"But this is _your _room." she insisted.

"It's fine Star,"

"I'll merely just sleep in the common room on the couch."

"If anyone's going to sleep on the couch it's me." he said, finally getting her to stop flailing and sit down.

"Robin I cannot allow you to sleep elsewhere." she said

"Then move over." He said, shocking himself.

What was he thinking? Sleeping with her? Idiot!

Oddly enough though, she scooted over to allow him room. He turned out the lights and laid back. Suddenly realizing that his bed wasn't as big as he thought. She was directly next to him, both their their arms touching. Robin was prepared to scoot over, despite the lack of space, but stopped when she turned towards him and latched onto his arm.

"Star?" he asked, his voice coming out as more of a squeak than he intended.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Is that my shirt?" he asked trying to cover his cracking voice.

Starfire simply giggled at him.

Within minutes she was asleep. Robin expected this to be strange and awkward, but oddly enough he felt _exceedingly _relaxed. Her gentle breathing providing a living lullaby. Besides this way he didn't have to worry about someone attacking her or doing some other violent thing to her following up on there last attack. With her besides him, he would probably get the best sleep he had ever had.

A bright light flashed into his room followed by a loud clack of thunder. Starfire simply took a deeper breath. Robin was glad she was asleep, he knew how much she hated storms.

By time the soft and rhythmic sound of rain began to hit his window, Robin was somewhere on cloud nine. Sleeping deeply next to his lover.

Robin quickly sat up. Something had woken him up in his sleep. He quickly looked around his pitch black room. He looked towards his nightstand looking for his alarm clock, but found no blinking red numbers. Reaching for his light, he found that that too wasn't there.

The sound of rain was still sounding in Robin window, but instead of hearing the loud, ferocious wind, he felt it. Goosebumps formed on his arms as he realized that his window was open. He was positive that that had been closed when he went to sleep.

He began to stand up when he realized that something was securely latched onto his arm. Pushing a bit of panic down, he remembered Starfire.

Shaking her quickly, she woke up. Robin could feel her shivering.

"Give me a bit of light." he ordered.

Confused and very cold she lit her hand.

She was about to ask robin why he wouldn't just turn on his lamp when she looked around his room. It was lit in a eerie green, but one thing was obvious; someone had targeted Robin too. Nothing but his bed was in the same spot as before.

His desk was flipped over, and papers were everywhere. Pieces of wood from his nightstand was tangled up in the dark curtains that lay shredded and ripped half hanging out window. Paint was still melting off his walls and several large holes were everywhere.

The thought that someone was in the same room as her made her uncomfortable. If they were sneaky enough to come in and out without _Robin _knowing, they were really good.

Robin flipped open his communicator and called down to Cyborg, explaining the situation. With a quick 'I'll get the others' he hung up.

"Come on." Robin said, suggesting that they wait for the others outside, but the moment he sat up, he snapped back onto the bed letting out a muffled cry.

Panicking, Starfire moved closer to him.

"Robin, what is wrong?" she asked, frantically raking her mind for what the problem could possibly be.

Starfire kept one hand lit, but let the other die down and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She held her lit hand closer to his face, but not close enough to burn him.

Wordlessly, she watched as he placed a shaky hand on his stomach, only to pull it back slick with a red liquid that dripped off of his hand. Her breathing became labored as she realized that the red liquid was actually his blood.

"Starfire-" Robin started, but was caught off by her high pitched screaming.

That was exactly what he was trying to avoid.

Robin could hear as the code to his room was over rided from the over side of the door.

When the door opened, fresh light from the hallway opened up, allowing the full glory of Robin's trashed room to be seen.

"Aw, man what happened in here." Cyborg said

"Cyborg!" Starfire screamed, catching his attention.

Coming over he saw all the blood that adorned Robins hands and blanket.

"Aw, man what happened _here!" _he asked, motioning to Robin

"Dude, that looks nasty." Beast Boy commented, peeking around Cyborgs shoulder.

Raven immediately took a seat next to Robin. Her hand began to glow a pale blue color and she placed a gentle hand on Robin's stomach before snapping her head to Starfire.

Blue Jay looked around. "I _did _say you needed to redecorate."

"What are you doing in here." Raven asked, looking at Starfire.

"Same as you friend Raven." she replied, confused.

"No, I mean, how _long_ have you been in here?" she clarified.

Starfire shrugged her shoulders. "All night."

Shouldn't Raven be more concerned with healing Robin? She was authentically touched that _Raven _was concerned for her, but Robin needed her more.

"All night?" Raven asked dumbfounded.

_The little tramp!_

She looked over to Beast Boy, waiting for some well needed dirty jokes to go Robins way. In any other family, it's always the brother who makes fun of the other brother, but Blue Jay was too nice for that. She needed an idiot to do the job. But instead she saw Beast Boy and Cyborg do a weird secret hi-five. She'd have to remember to kill them too.

Once Robin was healed up, or at least to the point that he felt no pain, he actually had a chance to look around his room. It was just as horrible as Starfire's room. What made it worse was the fact that he was actually in the room when it happened.

"Look, look look, guys. Look at this!" said a hyper Beast Boy.

Robin stood up and walked to Beast Boy, trying to get a better look at what he was pointing at.

There, right above his bed, written in dripping red liquid was the single word 'Ware.'

"This is just like before." Beast Boy said, after everyone had gotten a good look. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Ware." Robin thought out loud "Be from Star, and Ware from me. Be and Ware. Beware!" he shouted, as if he had gotten an epiphany.

"Beware of what?" asked Raven, giving the messy room another look around.

"Yo, yall are not gonna like what I got to say." said Cyborg, backing away from the wall.

"Like what?" asked Blue Jay.

Cyborg held his glowing blue arm out for everyone to see, although it did nothing to clarify anything. Numbers and letters flashed on the screen on his arm and off, in a way that neither boy human or girl human could understand.

"Um, Cy," Beast Boy started "What are we looking at? Scrabble cheats?"

Cyborg shook his head. "This is a DNA genome. _Robin's_ DNA genome."

"So?" asked a still confused Beast Boy.

Cyborg pointed to the wall.

"That red liquid's actually Robin's blood."

"Ewe, gross!" Beast Boys shouted.

"And that's not all." Cyborg continued. "I found the same stuff in Star's room. Instead of his blood though, it was hers."

"But who would have access to her blood?" Blue Jay asked. "Robin's is pretty obvious, but I dont remember Star having any deep cuts lately."

Before anyone could even have a guess, a blue alarm sounded in the rooms and halls. Cyborg flipped open his arm again.

"Yo, someones in the tower! MY tower!"

"Where!" asked Robin, determined to make the criminal pay.

"Training room!" Cyborg called running out the door.

Everyone took the stairs down to the common room floor and ran down the hall.

"Oh, he is gonna pay." Cyborg said "And then tell me how he broke in."

Upon entering the training room, no one was surprised to find it trashed.

The weights themselves where broken and snapped in half. The gym rope that had once hung from the ceiling was not at least nine different ones laying on the ground.

"He's in here." Cyborg clarified, looking around.

Robin looked towards the locker room. Steam was coming out.

Robin looked around, only Starfire was looking at him. She made eye contact, and then looked towards the locker room. He nodded and the two of them made there way to the showers.

When they entered the room, steam was everywhere. It immediately dampened their hair, causing it to drip into there eyes.

The shower turned off suddenly and both Robin and Starfire whipped around to try and see who had done it. But seeing no one, robin made his way closer to them.

He only turned back to Starfire when her heard her take a sharp grasp.

His heart was beating faster that the drips of water that still fell from his covered eyes. His first sight on the perpetrator wasn't much. Nearly nothing about the teen was noteworthy. He stood no taller than Robin did, if not a little shorter.

He had on straight black jeans, that dripped with water. His large red sweat shirt hung to far over his arms. The hood was pulled up, revealing no more than the teens nose and small lips that were oddly pressed into a slight smirk. Robin was sure he could take the guy but there was something keeping him from tearing off the teens head.

Pressed to his stomach was Starfire. Her back was to the teen, but she made little attempt to move. It probably had something to do with the rope that the teen had pressed to her neck. It glowed a eerie pale yellow and seemed to be taking energy from her.

Her head was forced back onto the teens shoulder and she had both her hands on the rope, but she wouldn't move. Wouldn't shoot the teen with a starbolt or even her laser eyes.

"Something akin to a power neutralizer." the teen spoke, as if reading Robins mind.

Robin tried to take note of everything. The way the teen stood, his voice, but oddly enough, both were as normal as any other boys. If he had to pick the teen from any other, he knew he wouldn't be able to. It was criminals like these that Robin hated with a passion. The physios, the smart ones, and the hidden, were all criminals that Robin couldn't stand.

Starfire's legs seemed to wan to buckle. They were clearly unstable and the shook from side to side. She was breathing irregularly from the rope that was pressing so tight to her neck. Most of the steam had cleared out, but a small bit still drifted around at their feet.

"You dont know me." The teen spoke again "And you don't need to. I'm afraid this will be out last encounter."

Robin took a tentative step forward. If he could just get two more in, he'd be able to tackle the guy and free Starfire, but the teen was paying attention. The rope around Starfire's neck tightened and she started to gasp for air.

Robin quickly stepped back, but the teen never loosened his grip.

"Tsk tsk, Robin. You wouldn't want anything _bad _to happen to her would you? Of course not."

"What do you want with our team?" Robin asked, wanting the teen to loosen the rope.

"It's not the team _were_ after." said the teen "It's you two."

_Us? _Robin thought. What could they want with him and Starfire.

"Why us?" he asked.

The teen shook his head.

"I'm afraid that's top secret information, and... my time here is about up, but..." trailing off, he cocked his head at Robin before continuing. "how could I leave a beautiful princess without something to remember me by?"

With that he leaned close to Starfire face and very slowly leaned in and kissed her cheek. Starfire's legs buckled beneath her and she fell fully onto the teen.

Robin swore that he'd hunt this teen down and force him to eat his own foot. No one, _No One, _touched her without permission.

"FREEZE!" shouted a voice from the door.

Of course Blue Jay had to come _after _the teen had already kissed her. Had he been two and a half seconds earlier he could have prevented that awful sight that Robin had to endure.

Instead of trying to make a run for it, or even dropping Starfire, he looked back at Robin with that stupid smirk on his face.

"I bid you farewell." he said, and within a blink of the eye, he was gone.

All that was left in his place was a hazy black smoke that seemed to disappear on it's own.

"Where'd he go?" Blue Jay asked.

But Robin rushed towards Starfire, who had been dropped when the teen disappeared. She was laying in her side, her still wet hair falling over her eyes. Brushing it out her face, he was shocked to see how unlifelike her eyes were. They seemed to be glazed over, and when Robin waved a hand in front of her face, her eyes didn't follow.

"Whats wrong with her?" Robin asked frantically, looking to his brother for some kind of help.

Robin looked up when he heard footsteps, but it was only Cyborg's.

"What happened to her?" Blue Jay asked, turning her head from side to side.

The hard look Robin gave him was enough to tell him not to push it anymore. Blue Jay snapped his fingers in front of Starfire face, trying to do anything to get her to respond.

"Dude, I think it's safe to say you found the guy?" asked Beast Boy.

He bent down like Blue Jay and Robin, his hair getting shiny beads of moisture on it, but not enough to weigh it down.

"She is not okay." he spoke, a tip of pain in his voice. "We need Raven."

"I'm here." she said, appearing out of nowhere. "Get her to my room, quickly."

No one objected when Robin carefully lifted her up in his arms and followed Raven to the elevator.

Her eyes were still open, but they weren't blinking. She was staring at some unseen focus point, completely limp in Robin's muscular arms. No one but Blue Jay knew just how much he was hurting inside. It was only Blue Jay that he talked to about his crush. Blue Jay would nod his head or give his best bit of advise, but no matter how good the advise, Robin could never force himself to go through with it.

He was a coward, he knew. He couldn't tell the love of his life how much he cared for her. He blamed Bruce for all those years of drilling rules into his head. Bruce was a hypocrite to say the least. Not only _did _he fall in love, but to a criminal, and a couple other ladies. How wrong was that? But he couldn't blame everything on Bruce. He could break free of the hold if he _really _wanted to. He broke away from Bruce and left, didn't he? And look what he found. Friends, a crush, freedom.

Stopping at Raven level, everyone got off.

Raven opened her door and walked in. No one but Robin dared to enter her room without being invited, so instead they all sat against the wall and tried to listen through the solid, _sound proof, _door.

Laying her down on the bed, Robin stood waiting for Raven to give him instructions. He was her leader, but when it came to her powers, he was completely in the dark.

"You can go now." Raven spoke, flipping through a thick, dusty book she had picked up.

"No way," he objected "I'm staying and I want to help."

Raven let out a breath and nodded. She knew, despite herself, that if anyone was going to help Starfire out of this it was going to be him. She was really hating Starfire right now, and the thought that she had shared a bed with Robin still bugged her, but Starfire had never done anything wrong to her and she was going to do all she could to help her get better.

"Sit on the floor with her." she ordered Robin.

He did so and rested Starfire's head on his crossed legs. If she didn't love Robin, she would think they were kind of cute together. But she did and at that moment she felt as if she was going to be sick.

Flipping to the page she was looking for, she sat down on her bed, cross legged like Robin.

"Okay so here's whats going to happen. I'm going to open Starfire's mind and allow us _both_ to enter. You and I are going to go in her mind and try to rouse her awake. With any luck she'll already be awake and she'll just need a portal to get out, but if that's not the case were going to need and try to wake her mind up and pull her out ourselves."

Robin nodded his head. Go in, find Starfire, get her out. Simple.

"And what happens if we cant wake her." he asked, the question suddenly popping into his head.

"We cant let that happen." she responded, her eyes now closed.

Ravens eyes went white and Robin could feel her entering his mind. He closed his eyes as well trying to keep his mind as open as possible.

_Ready? _She asked mentally.

_Ready. _He responded.

When Robin opened his eyes again he was in complete darkness. He held out his hand, confirming that he couldn't see it.

"Robin." Robin snapped his head to where he had heard Raven voice. "She's asleep."

"That's bad, right?" he asked.

"Not bad, just more difficult."

Robin walked to Ravens voice. Each step he took seemed to echo off into some unknown distance.

"How are we supposed to find her in the dark?" Robin asked, accidentally bumping into Raven.

"I'll try and shed some light in here." she said.

Robin could see Ravens eyes now as they glowed white. It was very creepy to only be able to see white eyes that seemed to be staring at you.

Within seconds though, the dark mind of Starfire was now only gray. Robin could see Raven clearly now along with both his hands.

"Look." Raven said, pointing off into the distance.

Robin followed her pointing finger.

It looked as if a pile of clothes were strewn in a pile, but as he got closer Robin realized that it was Starfire who was laying down. He quickly made his way over.

"How do we wake her?" he asked Raven, looking down at Star.

Ravens eyes furrowed. Obviously, she didn't know. Bending down, he decided to try and just shake her awake, but the moment his hand made contact with her skin Starfire's entire mind went white.

The light blinded Robins eyes, but he still held tight to Starfire's arm. Within another second he was amerced with a harsh pain that filled his every being. Every fiber in his body was on fire, they each felt as if someone was stabbing them with needles all at once repeatedly.

Robin could hardly hear Ravens screaming over his own.

Robins own mind was going black as the white light of Starfire's mind seemed to try and engulf him. After another few seconds he couldn't decide which mind was his own. The pain was so intense that he decided to just give into both. With a last painful cry, he passed out next to Starfire.

* * *

><p>AN: Tell me, tell me, tell me! What'd ja think? To much? Not enough? Let me know!

I know I've been making Rae seem like a total jerk for trying to come between Rob and Star, but i assure you: I'M A ROBSTAR TILL THE END, BABY! I tried to convey a little, Raven's-still-a-sweet-person-in-her-own-way kind of thing. You'll see, though. Things'll go accordingly. I love Raven, but I love star more, sorry(*o*)

Join us next chapter to see what will result from this mysterious mind bomb!


	4. Deja Vou

I must have some invisible super power or somethin, cause I'm kickin these chapter out like *!BAM!*  
>This was a little painful to write, you'll see why later.<br>As always, I welcome your comments!

Disclaimer: I own no one *huff*

A TEST OF FAITH_-_-_

* * *

><p><em>Robin? Robin, can you hear me?<em>

Yup, Robin was sure someone was calling him. Cracking open his eyes was a challenge for him. He still felt as if his atoms were being stabbed, but he was able to push the pain aside. He stretched out his arm, surprised when his hand touched someones fabric.

Tilting his head to the side, he saw that Starfire was still laying beside him. A rush of emotions came back to him. The pain, the screaming, touching Starfire. It caused a wave of nausea to pass through him. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to go back into the dreamless sleep of being unconscious.

_Robin if you can hear me listen carefully. _

The voice of Raven was just registering in his head. She was talking to him from outside of Starfire's mind, he was sure. Her voice was echoing seemingly from everywhere. Pushing the thought to going back to sleep away, he forced himself to sit up and listen.

_Robin, you are not dead, first off. Your still in Starfire's mind. I was kicked out during that...uh...attack. I have tried to get back in, but you and Starfire's mind combined has blocked me from coming back in. In order to get out, Robin, you have to wake Starfire up. Wake her up and tell her she's in a dreamlike state. She should be able to wake up like she would if she were asleep. After she's awake that should automatically set you free as well. _

_ Robin, you have to do this quickly. Both of your minds are not prepared to be in this mind state for so long. The longer you take, the bigger the chance that neither of you are going to wake up. I'm sorry I cant be more of a help, but it's a challenge just talking to you right now. Make sure you-_

Robin waited for the rest of the message, but he heard no more of Ravens voice. Whatever she was going to say couldn't make his predicament more challenging. He had to wake up Starfire and do it without getting the both of them stuck in her mind forever. Easy.

Robin reached a hand out to tap her, but stopped, remembering what happened the last time he touched her.

Would he be willing to go through that torture just to try and wake her up? Absolutely.

Closing his eyes, he placed a hand on her shoulder. A shocking buzz went through his entire body, but it was nothing close to that agonizing stinging he had felt earlier.

Feeling his confidence growing, he shook her gently, then roughly when she didn't wake. A little while later, he found himself straddling her and screaming her name at the top of his lungs.

Sitting down next to her he began to think. This was Starfire's mind, after all. If it were Starfire's choice, how would she wake up. She was a girl. How do girls like to wake up? Robin knew he enjoyed having a cup of coffee, but he knew Starfire hated the stuff, so that wouldn't work.

She was a princess. How do princesses like to wake up? The only actual princesses he knew, besides her, were in story books, and he had never _actually _read any of those stories. But he _did _know the story of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Or at least parts of it. It was the most common known princess fact. To wake a princess is to kiss them.

This was trial and error test that Robin didn't mind. He'd kiss her a thousand times if he had to. If that was the case, then so be it!

With a stupid grin on his face, he leant down towards her face. This wasn't exactly the romantic kiss he had always pictured they'd have, but a kiss was a kiss and Robins body was ready for any kind of kiss.

The moment his lips touched hers, her mind went white again. This time Robin had no time to think about the fact that he didn't feel any pain, instead he was thrown into his own dark mind.

-ATOF-

_Rooobin. Wake up._

Robin cracked open his right eye, surprised to find a pair of bright green eyes staring at him.

"Starfire!" he said sitting up quickly.

He hadn't given her a chance to move, though and the two ended up colliding heads. Rubbing his head he looked back at her.

"Your awake!" they said at the same time.

Raven slammed her thick dusty book closed snapping both Starfire and Robins attention to her.

"Thanks Rae." Robin said, a stupid grin still on his face.

"Yes, I thank you friend Raven!" Starfire agreed.

A loud knock came at Ravens door.

"C'mon Raven." Came Beast Boys voice. "You've been in there for days. Whats going on in there?"

"Days!" Robin asked, astonished.

"No," Raven answered "Just a few hours. You know how Beast Boy exaggerates."

"Hours!" he asked just as astonished.

The whole thing felt as if it had taken mere minutes. A half an hour at the _most. _He must had been knocked out for quite some time. Meaning Raven had been trying to wake him for hours.

"In honor of my gratitude, I shall make you a human gift." Starfire said standing up. "It is a surprise and shall be ready for you before dinner!"

With that she flew out the room and into a chorus of 'Your Awakes.'

Robin turned to leave as well, but stopped as a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Robin we need to talk." Raven said seriously.

Robin looked at her skeptically. "Okay."

Robin followed her to her bed and sat on it when she motioned him to do so.

"Robin," she started "I think something may have happened."

"What do mean?" he asked

"I think, that guy, whoever you met in the locker rooms, I think his powers are more complexed than we thought."

"How so?"

"When we entered Starfire's mind, I felt a, a, the closest I could describe it to would be a presence. Not a human presence but a forces presence. I think that presence was what caused that bright light attack thingy."

"Is it still there?" he asked, now becoming worried

"I'm not sure. It seemed to be lessening when she left just now, but it was still present when she was awake. I'm not sure what it was that caused it but, just, be cautious around her. Look for any signs of weirdness. Or, out of the ordinary weirdness."

"Is that everything?" he asked, sensing she had more to say.

"Well," she started, seemingly not quite sure how to continue "That presence was only triggered when you touched Starfire in her mind. There is a possibility, not a big one, but a possibility nonetheless that that presence was waiting to get contact with someone else."

"I dont understand."

"I'm trying to say that that presence _could _have been waiting for someone to touch it. I've seen it happen before. A person will implant a presence into someone else's head and the victim will, unbeknownst, give part of the presence to a different person. In this case the victim was Starfire and you touched her."

"Are you trying to tell me that I have some presence living in my head, Raven?" he asked.

Raven shook her head.

"Not exactly, but in a way, maybe. I'll have to meditate on this for a bit. But keep an eyes out. Normally, the presence will take something from both victims to make room for itself."

"Could the thing it takes be materials?" Robin asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"I suppose. I've never seen it happen before, but that _could _be it. Why?"

Robin looked down at himself.

"I _did _have a belt on."

Raven noticed for the first time that Robin was without his belt. He was looking at her now, waiting for some explanation.

"Are you sure you didn't lose it?" she asked.

Robin gave her a look that Raven was sure meant 'Are you kidding me? What kind of question is that?'

"Okay so, yes, maybe theres a possibility that you have a presence in you."

"How can you be so calm?" he asked "I have something _living _in my brain!"

"Robin calm down." Raven said "The presence isn't like an animal. It wont try and control your movements and eventually take over your body or something."

Robins face went white. So she continued.

"The abilities of the presence can range from the both of you sharing a memory, or gaining one of the others abilities, or gaining a whole knew ability in itself, or gaining a bunch of new abilities. Or liking the same food, I've seen that happen. The possibility that the change will even be something noticeable is very slim."

"Sharing a memory!" Robin shouted "I can't share any memories!"

Obviously she hadn't gotten through to him. No matter, he just needed to calm down and go back to being his own self. He'd be okay, she hoped.

He was still ranting about his memories being 'sacred' or something when she pushed him out her door.

"Remember, keep and eye on her." Raven said, before closing her door.

Robin took a deep breath. Raven was right, he needed to calm down. Besides, this could be worse. He could be in this with Beast Boy. No matter what happened to him, he'd make sure Starfire was alright.

He straightened out his shoulders and walked down the hall to the elevator. Once inside, he couldn't help but go over what had happened in the past few hours. He'd woken up to a nasty gash on his stomach, one that he wasn't even sure when had occurred. His room was trashed. That freakish teenager kissed Starfire. _But only on her cheek _he reminded himself _you actually kissed her on the lips. _

A tingling sensation went through Robins body. He had forgot he had done that. Though only in her mind, it the closest he had ever gotten to kissing her for real, well, besides that one time in the kitchen, but he wasn't thinking about that right now. Him and Star were in danger. But why would someone target them? What did they have that someone else didn't?

The elevator sounded and Robin got off, heading down to the common room.

Something caught his nose. It smelled oddly like Raven's herbal tea but...sweeter.

Sliding open the common room door, Robin was met with the incredible smell of something baking. The herbal tea smell was still present, but something sweet and sugary over took it.

"Robin!" Starfire all but yelled. She had on a bright pink apron on with a pair of red lips on it.

Flour and sugar adorned her entire apron and smudges of whatever she was making was all over her face.

"Can you believe it is morning already?" she asked, nearly bouncing up and down in place. "Come here, come here. I wish to show you something."

She came over and grabbed him by his arm. That same tingly buzzing feeling went through Robin just as it had done in her mind. Starfire seemed to notice the feeling as well, but dragged him to the kitchen instead of acknowledging it.

Robin looked across the room and out the window. Sure enough, the sun was making an appearance in the sky. Birds and seagulls flew by the window, squawking loudly and dropping bits of food from their mouths. The sky was still heavily clouded, but the rain had stopped and the wind seemed to have died down considerably since the night before.

"Tada!" Starfire said from behind him.

Robin turned around, only to be met with the source of the glorious smell. A full sized cake lay on a pretty white china plate with small black flowers on it. Robin had never in his life seen the plate, but it added a certain...dark beauty to the cake.

The cake seemed to be baked to perfection. Starfire had obviously used herbal tea as a main ingredient, and even though Robin wasn't much of a tea kind of guy, the cake enticed him. A thin strawberry topping was spread all over the cake added a fruity smell to the tea smell.

The cake just smelled and looked so good. He reached a finger out to grab just a _little _piece, but instead was met with a light slap on his wrist.

"Hey!" he said, finally taking his eyes off the cake. "I just wanted a piece."

Starfire only giggled that sweet giggle at him.

"This is for friend Raven. I made it specifically for her. Everything is hand made. The cake, the topping, the heat." Starfire lit her hand green, showing what she meant by homemade heat. That would explain how she made it so fast.

"You may have the other one." she pointed to the stove where a identical cake was waiting.

Robin had no idea Starfire was a good chef. Most of the food she made from her home world was odd and nasty looking. Granted, they _did _smell good though. But this, this was a work of art. A masterpiece in just it's looks.

"Do you believe Raven will like it?" she asked, almost nervous sounding.

Robins masked eyes bulged.

"Like it?" he asked "If Raven doesn't like it you can give it to me."

That heart warming smile was back on her face.

"But you already have a cake."

Robin took the cake for him and hid it behind him.

"I dont know what your talking about."

Starfire laughed and headed down the hallway. Robin followed, holding a slice of cake and eating it. But suddenly she stopped and turned back around.

"Where ya going" he asked.

"Forgot something." she said, entering the kitchen again.

She set the cake on the counter and went looking in one of the cabinets. Robin cast a glance her way. She was busy in the cabinets. There was no way she'd see him if he took a bit of frosting off the top. He'd just have a little. She'd never know. So what if he had a _whole _nother cake. This cake a a bit of heaven.

He carefully reached his hand out, but put it back down quickly. He glanced her way, she was still in the cabinet. Reaching out again he felt a slight sting on his arm.

Looking down he realized that a small burn mark was there. It didn't hurt but it certainly surprised him. Turning back to Starfire she was staring straight at him, and he noticed that the tip of her pointer finger was glowing.

"No." she scolded him with a smile.

Robin grinned sheepishly and moved a side as she set a jar down on besides the cake. In the jar he noticed the Glorkaberries that Starfire had been using the day before, before they had that Joker encounter. Robin was a bit hesitant to put the Tameranian berries on the earthen cake.

Starfire gave the jar a twist. When it didn't budge she gave another one.

Robin watched, halfway amused, as she closed one eye and scrunched up her face trying to get the lip to open. She finally set the jar down forcefully and turned around to the counter behind her.

She had no idea she had twisted the lip that tight. She searched through the drawers. There had to be something in here that she could use to open the jar. Those Glorkaberries was what she was counting on to add a small amount of saltiness to the cake.

Suddenly she heard a small _pop _come from behind her. Turning around, she looked at Robin. In one hand he held the jar and in the other he held the lid. The smell of the Glorkaberries drifted throughout the room.

Starfire opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, only to close it once more. Robin wasn't sure what had prompted him to try and open the jar, but opening it was easier than unwrapping a lollipop. It really wasn't anything to him. Shouldn't it be nothing to Starfire as well? She _was _the one with super strength.

Starfire walked over to him. He gently handed her the jar. Could she have loosened it for him. That was unlikely.

Maybe he had been doing the 'working out.' But to the point of Tameranian strength? Not likely.

"Thank you." she said, in a small voice.

Shaking her head, she decided to put on a happy face for Raven. She was supposed to be thanking her, not pouting. So instead of being sad she held the jar out to Robin.

"Try one." she prompted.

He shook his head as if getting out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked

"Try one." she repeated. "Do you think it will go well with the cake?"

He picked a small berry out the jar and placed it one his slice of cake that he had been eating. Within the first bite, he dropped his cake on the ground. Starfire's face fell. She hadn't meant to cause _that _much discomfort. She merely wanted to know what he thought.

She bent down and picked the fallen cake off the ground and through it in the trash. Walking back to Robin, who was still chewing, she noticed that a small smile graced his lips. He staring off into nothing it seemed.

"Robin?" she asked, hoping to get him out his daze. She'd offer him some water, but he didn't even seem to be on the planet at present.

Finally though, he began to speak, but very slowly.

"That. Was. Absolutely. Amazing!" he told her.

He started babbling about how the saltiness clashed perfectly with the herbal tea and cake. Starfire was nearly incapable of following him, but she did get that he liked the cake. She was sprinkling the last of the berries onto his cake when he suddenly stopped.

"We _have _to take this to Raven. She's gonna flip!"

He made his way out the common room, with Starfire and the cake right behind him.

After getting onto the elevator Robin marveled in the smell of the cake. It was even more delicious smelling inside the enclosed elevator doors.

The elevator stopped at Cyborgs level. Cyborg seemed to be waiting for the elevator, but when the aroma of cake drifted out to his nose he seemed to forget that there even was a elevator. For Cyborg, all was right with the world for now. He just had to get that cake, and maybe it would stay like that. Unfortunately, Robin noticed his idea for world peace and gave him a hard shove backwards.

Robin repeatedly pressed the door close button. When the doors finally closed he let out a sigh, but his relief was short lived.

"I left my cake!" he screamed

"What?" Starfire asked, confused.

"My cake!" he screamed again "I left it in the kitchen and now Cyborgs gonna get it!"

The elevator sounded at Raven level and Robin literally ran down the hallway. He banged hard at Ravens door, not bothering to knock politely. Starfire took notice of this and gave a polite knock on the door.

-ATOF-

Raven was sitting crossed legged in the air. She knew she had sensed that presence. Normally she'd be able to feel it, able to identify what it was it was able to do, but how could she identify it if she couldn't even find it.

Raven was about to give up, but suddenly, she felt it. It was only a bit of notion that she felt, but maybe if she focused hard enough, she'd be able to learn enough about it.

A loud knock at her door nearly sent the twinge of proof she had flying away. She ignored the knock and tried to focus on her powers and the trail of energy the presence was leaving in her friends' mind. Another knock, not as loud but still irritating, came to her door. Raven let a bit of power slip out of her and into the hallway.

Whoever was bothering her was now either on there backs or completely in the dark.

Smiling that she was back on track, she went back to meditating.

-ATOF-

After knocking politely, Starfire took a step back. She knew how Raven liked her privacy. But all of a sudden the lights went out, leaving her and Robin in complete darkness. Starfire's hands shook and what sounded like a big balloon popping filled the air.

When the lights came back on, Starfire was still standing in front of Ravens door, but the cake and fine china that was in her hands were nothing more than a memory. The only remains of either were on the floor and covered over Starfire.

Starfire blinked a few times. Her arms were still out, as if she was still holding her cake.

"Star," Robin started, noticing her facial expression "You know Rae, she's not a cake person anyway."

Starfire nodded her head and headed back down the hallway. She was wordless. Something unusual for her.

Anger boiled in Robin's chest. Raven had no right to do that. She had no idea how long it took Starfire to do that. Yes, it only took a few minutes to cook, but the effort was still there. She just wanted to show her appreciation and what does Raven do? She literally blows it up in her face.

Knocking hard on Ravens door, he had every intention of giving her a piece of his mind.

Finally it opened a crack, revealing only half of Ravens face.

"It's gone." she said simply, opening it fully when she saw who it was.

"Whats gone?" Robin asked, still frustrated from Ravens outburst.

She opened the door fully and walked to her bed, floating up into her meditation pose. Robin followed her in and sat crossed legged on her floor.

"The presence. It's gone." she continued

"It's gone?" Robin asked.

He felt as if a large weight had been lifted off his shoulders. That narrowed his problems down considerably.

"Not completely." Raven said.

_And the weight was back._

"I sensed the presence before. Just before you disturbed me, I felt it. It was...very strong. In fact..."

Raven trailed off, her eyes starting to glow a pale gray. Robin had never seen her eyes glow that color. He resisted the urge to back away from her, but when her head snapped towards her door, Robin couldn't help but scoot back a little.

A gentle knock came to Ravens door.

Raven flicked her wrists towards Robin and then the door. Feeling like a maid, he stood and walked over to it. At the door was Starfire, completely cleaned of cake. In her hands she held out a small slice of cake.

"You were correct when you said Cyborg would eat your cake." she said, giving a small smile.

Robin was hardly concerned about that cake anymore. Cakes could be replaced. He was more worried about her. She _seemed _okay. She was giving a small smile, but a small smile was better than nothing. Yet, Robin wanted that large genuine smile that no one could help but smile along to back.

"Raven and I were just talking about us." Robin said, feeling the need to explain why he and Raven was in her room with the door locked.

"Us?" Starfire asked.

Robin nodded. He took her hand and led her towards Raven. She would be the one who needed to do the explaining. Robin himself didn't even understand fully, but the moment he grabbed Stars hand, raven let out a piercing scream. She dropped out the air and fell off the bed.

Letting go of Starfire's hand, he and her rushed over to Raven, but Raven held her hand out to them.

"Don't. Come. Any. Closer." she got out through pants.

Robin held his hand out in front of him innocently and slowly backed away. Starfire did the same thing just beside him.

"Friend, what is wrong?" she asked.

He was almost surprised that she was so concerned. Robin knew that if he had worked hard on something just to have someone blow it up in his face, he'd be pissed. Nevertheless, this was Starfire he was thinking about. She apologized to criminals before she beat the crap out of them. She asked politely for evil people to stop chasing her. Thinking about, Robin really wasn't all that surprised.

Raven used the edge of her bed to try and sit up. She pointed to the floor.

"Sit." she commanded them both.

Robin didn't care about his pride or how Raven was talking to him like some animal. Instead, he sat on the floor quickly and hard, hurting his butt. Of course, Starfire sat down as daintily as a...well, princess.

"Farther." Raven said, frantically motioning her hands back. "Farther. Farther."

Starfire and Robin hastily obeyed and continued to do so until they were sitting back against the door, yet still, Raven told them to go farther.

"Were as far back as we can go." Robin complained.

Raven rubbed her temples and crawled back towards her bed, and lifted into the air only inches from touching her dark blanket.

"It's back." she said merely.

Robin readjusted himself on the floor but bumped Starfire's arm accidentally.

"Don't touch her!" Raven screeched, scaring both Starfire and Robin.

Both Starfire and Robin moved away from each other quickly.

"Raven _whats _going on?" Robin asked, tired of being in the dark.

"The presence is back." Raven spoke, but her lips didn't move.

Instead, her voice seemed to be reverting inside of Robin and Starfire's head. Both robin and Starfire held their heads. Ravens voice was bringing back that feeling of stabbed fibers to Robin. He felt as if her small, simple voice was tearing him apart, limb by limb. Pulling his knees to his chest was just as antagonizing as Ravens voice.

He resisted the urge to scream, but hearing Starfire's scream beside him was dampening his will power. Although, strange as it was, hearing her scream was comforting. He wished that she wasn't feeling this pain like he was, but their was something soothing in her sound that Robins mind seemed to beg for.

"If you want me to stop, you have to ask."

Ravens voice was back, but louder. _So much louder._

Robin found himself whispering to her. Begging her to stop the noise. To stop the pain that was all Robin was beginning to know. If not for him than for Starfire's sake. He begged mentally to do it for her.

The pain was so intense that at the moment he wasn't even sure if he was talking in his mind or out loud. He could have confessed his love for Starfire right then and there and he wouldn't even know even worse than that. _She _wouldn't even know it.

But to Robin that was okay. As long as she lived through this torment he knew he'd be okay. Even if he died. Right there. Thinking this thought. He'd die peacefully if he knew that she'd be okay. He'd take his own pain and hers if he knew how.

_ Please. Please. Please. Do it for her. Stop it for her._

He couldn't identify his words enough to understand if he was saying them in a order she could understand or if it came out 'her it for stop.'

"Louder!"

Ravens voice. That's voice. Her voice. It sent him over the edge. Blocked out every ability he had to think, to know. Took all his sense away from him, replacing them with their own.

He couldn't see anything but red and black as he closed his eyes as tight as he could.

Couldn't hear anything but the sobs from his lover.

Couldn't smell anything but the saltiness that must have been his own tears.

Couldn't taste anything but a cold copper taste that must have resulted from him biting his tongue or cheek.

Couldn't feel anything but the pain.

Nothing made sense. His world was ending, and worse, he wanted it to. He wanted the pain to stop suddenly, to be encased in blackness, never to feel that feeling again. To get her voice out his head. To stop that soothing, yet painful sound of Starfire's cries. If he were to live through this he wasn't sure if he'd be able to survive this dreadful feeling again. Wouldn't it just be easier to let go now? Not have to worry about anything anymore?

"Again!"

That voice again. The last one he heard besides his own and Starfire's. As if bound together by some invisible force, they both gave their last word together and as loud as they could possibly get it out choked by their own tears before they both passed out.

"Stop!"

* * *

><p>AN: Don't hate me! I know, Robins been getting his butt kicked mentally, but it's all in the name of the plot. Rae still seems kinda like a jerk, I know, but it's kinda in her nature. Shes just _seems _like a jerk. Shes really a happy girl who loves the color pink and bunnies.

YEAH RIGHT!

So, yeah. Im gonna try and kick out some more chapter soon, k?

Let me know what u guys think!

_ScarletDrake


	5. Hello My name is

The first thing Robin was aware of was movement. Someone was shaking him. That or he was shaking himself.

"Get Up!"

No that was Nick's voice.

Robin couldn't force himself to open his eyes. He knew that the moment they were open he'd have to face the world again. Face responsibility. Face the fact that _someone _had seen him crying. Robin didn't feel ready for that yet. So, he lay there acting as if he was still unconscious. Besides, the soft berceuse of rain was enough to send him back to sleep. What was the harm? He still had a heart beat, so people wouldn't think he was dead. He knew he was being childish, but how often did he act like a child?

"Robin get up! I cant wake Starfire."

That was reason enough.

With renewed energy, he cracked open his eyes. He heard a strangled laugh come from his brother. Okay, so maybe it wasn't so nice to try and pretend to be knocked out.

"You had me worried, bro." Blue Jay said, helping him sit up. "First you disappear for 3 hours, than Raven comes bursting into the common room claiming your dead. Man, everything's just so messed up."

Robin was startled to say the least. For one, something was off about the way his brother looked. But then there was the fact that Raven thought he was dead. Had he died? Had Starfire died? Was she dead? If she was than his whole life was screwed.

"What do mean dead?" he asked.

In order to understand, he had to ask questions, and none of his questions would be answered if he continued to sit like a idiot.

Blue Jay shook his head.

"Dead, man. When we got to Ravens room you didn't have a pulse. You weren't breathing. You were just...laying there. Raven wouldn't tell us what happened or anything. We shocked you. Slapped you. Beast Boy was gonna piss you, dude."

"Piss me!" Robin asked, totally appalled. "Why would he piss me?"

"So we check Starfire's pulse and it's there." he continued, purposefully avoiding the question "Then, 2 minutes later, you have a pulse again."

"How did that happen?" Robin said, he tapped a finger to his chin.

"Don't ask me." he replied "But that's not the weirdest part. So look, we hooked you both up to the heart monitor, right? And guess what? Both you and Starfire have the same pulse. No lie. I mean they were matched to the T."

"Our pulses?" Robin asked, just to confirm.

"Your Pulses. The same exact thing. So, the whole time Ravens just standing there, like, 'okay this is normal' but it wasn't. It was _SO _not normal. I may, have, kinda blown up at her. Not giving you any glory details, but you know, I _did _think you just died."

Robin nodded his head. As expected. Robin and Blue Jay were close, and Dick and Nick were even closer. Robin didn't know what'd he do if he lost his brother. Probably go on a rampage in town, but considering the circumstances, he'd probably just blow up at Raven too.

He wasn't playing the finger pointing game, but a lot of his previous pain _did _seem to revolve around things Raven wasn't telling him. Blue Jay was his twin brother for crying out loud. Why wouldn't Raven tell him what was going on? Especially since everyone thought he was dead anyway.

"And it gets weirder." Blue Jay said in a sing song like voice.

A loud car horn blew outside.

Blue Jay walked to the window, opened it, and screamed that he was coming. Sitting back down, he acted as if nothing had happened.

"Thats Cyborg. Raven is _demanding _we take her to a book store. She's kind of weak right now. Not quite sure why but she needed me to carry her _all_ the way out to the car. Like, can't she fly? Anyway, there waiting on me. But before I go I just want to finish the story. So, Cyborg takes a blood sample from both of you, y'know just to make sure you weren't poisoned or anything, and when the results come back, it says you two have the same blood type. So they take my blood, y'know since im your brother and whatnot, and it comes back saying we have a _different_ blood type. Or _you_ have a different blood type. I'm still a 0 negative, but it says that now your a AB positive. How weird is that?"

Well that wasn't right. Robin _should _have been a 0 negative like his brother, how could his blood type change, and how could his heart beat start back up again and match Starfire's exactly? Could it have something to do with that presence Raven was carrying on about. Could that be one of the _'New Abilities' _she had been talking about? Maybe that was it. Maybe the two of them just shared a heart beat and a blood type. That was probably it. But then, why was Raven acting so weird?

The sound a of car horn blowing pulled Robin from his mind. Blue Jay huffed.

"I really dont know why they need me to come," he sighed "but I got ta go. Try to wake Starfire up, while you're here. She' should be fine, but, keep checking her."

With that, Blue Jay disappeared from the room.

Robin suppressed a tired yawn and turned to the last spot he had seen Starfire. Right beside him. As expected, she was still there, laying still on her side. It looked as if no one had touched her. The only difference was a small band-aid on her arm that must have been from the blood sample.

Leaning over, he gently shook her arm and whispered her name. She moaned and drifted back to sleep. Shaking her again, she seemed to come to terms that she needed to wake up. He helped up into a sitting position. Her red hair was crazed in spots and matted down in others, leaving Robin to believe that his hair too was a crazed mess.

"How long..." she trailed off and clutched her head.

Her own voice seemed to be a miniature version of Ravens. It echoed inside her head as she still heard it outside. Looking over, she noticed that Robin too was clutching his head. Looking at him, she thought it funny that his hair was so knotted in places. This was the side of Robin that he tried to hide from everyone. The human side.

With his hair messed up and his uniform wrinkled, Starfire couldn't help but think about how cute he looked. He didn't look weak, or fragile. He just looked...human. A side that she had to look _very _hard to find.

"How..." Starfire tested again. When she found that it caused her no pain she continued "How long have we been asleep?" she asked.

Robin rubbed his temples in a way that Starfire had seen Raven do many times.

"I'm..." Robin trialed off like she had done before.

Starfire could hear Robin's voice in her head. It shook he brain wildly sending shock waves down to the pit of her stomach.

_Ouch. _She thought mentally.

"Yeah, I know. That's really starting to hurt." he said aloud, almost as if he could hear her.

Looking down at himself, he realized that he didn't smell very nice. Apparently, during Raven's outburst he had begun to sweat, resulting in his now after-training smell. A bit of hair fell down into his face. It felt dirty and grimy, in need of a much needed shower.

_I really need to shower. _He thought to himself.

"I agree." Starfire said, standing up "I feel the need to bathe as well."

"What?" Robin asked, sure he hadn't said anything put loud.

Starfire looked at him blankly.

"You mentioned the need to bathe." she said innocently "I merely agreed. For me of course." she added hastily, probably thinking she offended him.

"Starfire, I didn't say anything." Robin raised an eyebrow. He was positive that he hadn't said anything aloud.

"Yes, you did. You said you required a shower. I heard you."

"No, I didn't say _anything. _At all."

"But you did, I am sure I heard you say you required a shower."

"I may have _thought _it, but I didn't say a word out loud."

"We must speak with friend Raven." She said suddenly.

His thoughts exactly.

"But first," she added "I think it would be best it we did bathe."

Robin nodded his head and made his way to the elevator. When he got off and made his way to him room he was unpleasantly reminded that it was a horrible mess. From the moment he opened the door a cold wind hit him in his face, reminding him that his window was left open.

Robin doubted that he would find any good clothes in here. Everything was either ripped of burnt. Searching deep in his closet though he did find a pair of his sweat pants, and another pair that he had outgrown long ago, along with one of his black wife beater shirts.

A pair of sweats and a wife beater was all he had to go by until he brought some more clothes. But if push came to shove he'd borrow some of Nicks clothes.

A small knock came to his door, drawing him out his search for a wash cloth and towel.

"Come in." he called, knowing full well who was knocking at his door.

When the door to his room hissed open, Starfire was standing there. Towel in hand. She kept switching which leg she put her weight on and bit her bottom lip. Robin was so caught up in the fact that she looked _incredibly _cute biting her lip like that that he barely noticed she was speaking.

"Huh?" he asked, shaking his head, as if trying to rid the thoughts by actually shaking them out.

"I merely asked if most of your clothes survived." she repeated.

Robin held up a shirt that was laying beside him. It had several large holes in it and around the holes were dark stains from when something hot had burnt through the fabric.

" I wouldn't say most." he said with a lopsided grin.

Seeing her still pacing from side to side, he felt the need to continue.

"How about you. Any of your clothes survive?"

She shook her head.

"Just a tank top I haven't worn since I brought it."

"Well, I'm sorry I dont have any-" he snapped his fingers. He was going apologize for not having any pants for her, but he quickly remembered the sweat pants that had he had out grown. Searching through his closet, he found them again. Thankfully they were clean.

"You may be able to fit these." he said handing her the pants "I outgrew them a while ago."

She smiled one of her snow-melting smiles and gave him a quick hug. She flew down the hallway and into the bathroom. Another buzzing feeling went though his body when she touched him.

Still frozen from her touch, he snapped out of his trance. He really needed to stop freezing up when he touched her.

He grabbed his clothes and went into the hallway, but remembered that Starfire was in the bathroom. Raven had her own bathroom, she probably wouldn't mind if he used hers quickly. Pressing the elevator button he couldn't help but look around himself. Something in his head was making him feel paranoid. He kept checking over his shoulder, feeling almost certain that someone was somewhere behind him.

_That's right, get on the elevator._

Robin snapped around. Someone had just said that out loud. He had heard them, but looking down the hallway, he couldn't see anyone. Wherever the guy was, he wanted Robin to get on the elevator, meaning he was walking into a trap.

Walking down the hallway, he still found that it was empty. But he was sure of what he had heard. Should he take a chance and go take a shower? Maybe he was just exhausted or something. But then, what if he wasn't. By leaving and falling into the trap, he was putting Starfire in danger.

The elevator at the end of the hallway dinged and opened. Instead of getting on though, he took the stairs down to Ravens level. He'd just take a quick shower and he and Starfire would then go out and find the team. There was no reason to be paranoid. Obviously someone wanted something from him and Star, and he knew they couldn't get it if they were dead.

Turning the shower on in the bathroom, he quickly undressed and jumped in. He reached for the soap, but felt a sudden pain in his toe. He stretched it out and massaged it his his other foot. Shaking his head, he reached for the soap again.

-ATOF-

Starfire turned off the shower. Robin would probably be waiting for her to get out and she didn't want to be selfish and hog all the hot water.

Stepping out, she quickly dried herself off and pulled on her bra and shirt. On her planet, the royal family didn't wear bra's. If they were blessed with a lot of cleavage than it was traditional to make sure everyone knew it. It made them look more desirable and yet more out of reach.

The strange fabric felt odd. Raven had made her purchase it within the first few days of them being friends. Mostly, though, she had worn sports bras. Jumping a little, Starfire realized that this was nothing like a sports bra. Her breasts moved so much more freely in this, and oddly enough, they were also pushed up. The feeling of having her breasts so far up made her feel a little top heavy.

She shook her head and pulled on her underwear and pants. They fit perfectly. They stopped just past her ankles and hugged her waist so's not to fall down. She'd have to give Robin an extra big hug for them. Maybe, if he didn't mind, she could keep them. He _did _say they were to small.

_That's right, get on the elevator._

Starfire jumped, and in the jump she stubbed her toe. Holding it with her hand, she kneaded it softly.

Who's voice was that and where did it come from?

She looked around the bathroom. Seeing no one she couldn't help but feel as if she was being watched. She quickly put her dirty clothes in the hamper and left the bathroom in search of Robin. She was sure her feeling of being in danger would pass once she was with him. It always did.

She looked down the empty hallway. For some reason she half expected him to be waiting for her, but obviously, that wasn't the case. He _had _mentioned wanting to take a shower, it only made sense for him to be close by.

Perhaps he was, she thought. She just had to find him.

Walking to the left she froze. Something inside her, a notion of sorts, told her that if she wanted to find Robin, she had to go the other way. Unfamiliar with the feeling, she headed the other way. Tameranian's were people of feeling and instinct and she was not going to discard her training just because she lived on earth.

Stopping at the elevator, she pressed the button. She rocked on her heels, waiting for the elevator to arrive, but a small shuffle came from a room across the hall. She tilted her head to the side curiously. It could be Robin in there. He could just be looking for something to wear. But then again, it could be that intruder boy who had kissed her and made her world go black.

She wasn't familiar with the room, but as a Titan, it was her job to protect it. She walked towards it, her eyes glowing with power.

Typing in the code to the room, it revealed nothing but a storage room of sorts. A single window was present, letting no indication that it was late in the day. No more than the size of her bedroom, Starfire looked around, but there wasn't much to see. Boxes and fabrics lay everywhere. But the weirdest thing about the room was the smell.

It smelt oddly strong. A smell Starfire couldn't identify seemed to be everywhere, almost choking her.

The sound of the door swishing shut behind her made Starfire feel a bit of claustrophobia. She walked back over to the door and typed in the exit code. When nothing happened she typed in in again. And then again. And once more before she realized that it wasn't going to open. Lighting her hand, she tossed a small starbolt at the door, surprised when she found that it wasn't even hot. She conjured a larger one and threw that. But again, no heat came from the door. Taking one of the biggest ones she knew how to make, she threw it quickly at the door, and yet, the door still held fast.

Reaching down, she expected to find her communicator, so that she could call Robin, but found that along with her old outfit, her communicator was gone. Sighing loudly, she took her fist and smashed it into the door, screaming loudly when she heard a few cracks coming from her hand. Never in her life had anything like that happened to her.

She inspected her hand, watching as it turned a blue and purple-ish color. Clearly she had broken something. What was this door made of anyway?

"Give up, girl. That door can withstand anything Raven or Beast could throw at it."

Turning around quickly, Starfire was met with the face (or mask rather) of Slade. The gold half showing a narrowed slit where Slade's eye would be. He seemed to be smirking beneath the mask as he stepped closer to Starfire.

"Why am I here?" she asked, a low grow emanating from deep in her throat.

"That, I'm afraid is a secret of my own." he answered, still taking slow steps towards her.

"So you are the one behind all of this?"  
>Starfire knew. All this twisted punishment, all for Slade's entertainment. He had been the one behind this. Hired that kid to trash her and Robins room. To kiss her. To knock her out. It was all part of another one of Slade's dirty pranks.<p>

"I am not." he spoke.

_Or not._

"Then...why are you here?" she asked again. If Slade wasn't behind this than who was. Who was above Slade in the crime world? No one she knew, she bet. Starfire suddenly looked up at him, her peripherals telling her that a shadow was close.

She jumped back, her back hitting one of the boxes, when she realized just how close Slade had gotten to her. He stared at her through his one eye, seemingly analyzing every inch of her body. She felt the unnerving need to cover her body from him. Still, he advanced towards her and she could no longer fight the need to back away from him. Why was he looking at her like that? And why was he flexing his fingers?

Before she could think anymore about it, he had grabbed her by her arms and pushed her back roughly. Trying to catch her balance, she stumbled back a few feet before regaining her balance. She had no time to even look before he had her neck in his hand.

Cutting off her circulation, he slammed her back onto a table that she was just in front of. Starfire clawed at Slade's hand. When had he suddenly gotten so strong and why couldn't she break his grip?

Her back could feel the cold of the table through the thin shirt. She arched her back away from it, trying to twist her body out of Slade's grasp. She tried to spin and jab her elbow down on his arm, the way Robin had showed her, but it seemed to be of no use. She watched as he reached around her. Attached to the wall was a short rope. Starfire wondered how she had missed all of this before.

Despite her struggling, he managed to tie her hands together and to the rope that seemed unmovable. With her hands immobilized, her starbolt were useless. But she still lit her eyes trying to get at least one good shot into him, but whenever she looked at him he was moving, and it was hard to get a good shot in when her hands where pinned above her head.

Slade laid a now glove-less hand on her torso, much closer to the hem of her pants than she was comfortable with. He spun a circle over her shirt with his pointer finger before lifting her shirt to just below her chest.

"You let go of me you-" before she could even continue her insult a rag was stuffed in her mouth, muffling her cries.

He grabbed her right leg, and Starfire could feel it being tied to a leg of the table. With her left leg she kicked it around wildly. Trying to hit that spot that always sent boys to the ground. With her super strength, she ought to be able to knock him out, but he was done tying her right leg much faster than she had anticipated and tied her left just as quickly. She fumed as she lay on the table, legs spread apart, completely undignified. If he was trying to humiliate her, he had succeeded.

"Stop your screaming. I cant understand you." Slade said, beginning to make his fingers walk the hem of her pants.

Starfire managed to spit out the rag.

"Let me go you Chlorbag Varblenelk Zolwarg Tubeck Plixing Zarbmarker Troq!"

Once again the rag was stuffed back in her mouth, but this time deeper than before.

"Shut up!" he spat "Soon enough you mouth will be filled with something different, and _that,_ you better not spit out."

Despite his anger she continued to scream. This was no way for anyone to be treated. Tied to a table with an enemy. A enemy who was...

Her mind stopped working along with her screaming as Slade's hand squeezed her breast. He seemed completely indifferent, perplexed even. Starfire on the other hand was _beyond _indifferent. Slade was right next to her. _Touching her!_

He was close enough for her to get in a good shot, but too many fears came up from his one touch. Too many bad memories came from being experimented, too many people touched and prodded her. Too many people _enjoyed _touching and prodding her. Was this what she would have gone through if she was successfully given as a 'prize.'

She couldn't make her brain think straight enough to remember to try and shoot him with her eyes. She wouldn't wish the pain she had felt when she was just a little girl on anyone, young or old. The Gordanians and Psians had humiliated her. They used her. Touched her in ways that a little girls didn't need to be touched.

How could anyone hope to have a happy relationship with that hanging in their past?

"I'm sure by now you've noticed the smell." Slade whispered, right besides her ear. Her breathing hitched as she felt him blow through his mask onto her ear.

"That smell, is pure gasoline. When your hero hears your cries, and you _will _scream, he'll come running, and right into a burning room. The door will lock and he'll be searching an empty room. All for you."

Starfire felt sick. All the way to her stomach. Slade was doing all of this to get at Robin, but wait...he wasn't behind this. Was someone else out to get Robin? She couldn't think very straight. A villain was touching her, she was being used as bait to get her best friend (and crush) killed, her and robin was also the target of some mysterious organization. Who could think straight with that on their minds.

Slade moved his fingers around the the hem of her pants. Instead of screaming, instead of yelling, instead of laughing- which oddly enough she found was appropriate- she cried. Not hysterically, but a pity cry. For herself. She was entitled to one every now and then. True, she had cried dozens of times as a child, but since coming to earth she hadn't. She swore she'd never cry again. Not even during the sad, sappy, romance movies.

She couldn't believe she was in this situation. And with Slade no less. There must have been something about her, she always attracted the wrong kind of men. The guys on the streets were all jerks. The guys at clubs- major jerks...who laugh when you dont understand something. Even the guys on other planets were jerks. This, is why she found the situation slightly funny.

Maybe she deserved this. Maybe, it was just in her nature to cause unwanted attention. Thinking back, she knew only 4 boys who weren't complete jerks: Beast Boy, Cyborg, Robin, and her younger brother Ryand'r, who she hadn't seen for years and was probably dead. So three guys she knew, and one was certainly not a jerk. He was actually kind and sweet. The love of her life. Her first true friend. Robin.

-ATOF-

Drying his hair, Robin still couldn't shake that feeling of being paranoid. But, something deep down, some intuition was making it seem urgent. He couldn't understand why, but he didn't even bother putting his shirt on- just carried it a long- as he left the bathroom. That intuition seemed to be blinding his every thought. It guided him down the halls and to the stairs.

He didn't know where he was going or why, but the feeling of having a time limit was heavy on his mind. He hated time limits. It made him feel rushed, and when he was rushed he always forgot things. He kept an eye open for Starfire when he reached his and Starfire's level. That feeling in his mind was stronger, willing his body to go down this hall.

Without a second thought he burst through the stair doors and rushed down the hallway.

-ATOF-

Slade began pulling down her pants, but he didn't make it more than halfway down her hips before his head snapped towards the door. She heard him swear under his breath. He quickly reached up towards her tied arms and began to untie them. Obviously, they wanted _her _alive, though she'd willingly give her life for Robin.

Slade's hand snapped to his ear suddenly. He nodded his head, slightly for a moment.

"Really? Fine." he said.

He gave her chest a last, painful, squeeze before backing away from her. She watched him go until her own chest blocked the rest of her vision.

Oddly enough, the moment he was out of sight she really began to cry, the whole situation suddenly becoming surreal. The sound of some kind of scratching filled her ears before the smell of smoke filler her nose. She strained her head down and looked down. Where Slade _used _to be was now engulfed in flames. It seemed to spread quickly, burning the boxes and covering the window in a black soot.

But this wasn't right. He was supposed to take her with him. She almost wanted him too. Was it a sin to want to live? But if Robin was destined to die, than she wanted to go with him. She'd rather die than lose him anyway, this way was completely by accident, and they were together. No more worries, no more problems. Leaving this wonderful world with her lover close by.

Starfire cried even harder. Half from the smoke that was burning them and half from her own thoughts. She hated to admit it, but she _did _have a negative mind. She always thought like this. Sometimes she thought she was worse than Raven. Her own horrible past and negative mind was what made her smile so much, that and Robin. She wanted to get past her own horrible self and be someone bright. Someone who made other people smile and laugh.

Her head snapped towards the door before she knew why. She stared at it for a moment and a few seconds later it swished open. She heard a tremendous amount of coughing coming from, none other than Robin. Unfortunately, she knew he would come. He always came.

"Starfire!" he called through the smoke.

She screamed at him. Trying to tell him to get out. She didn't want him to die. People needed him. She needed him, alive. But she forgot, Slade had never removed that cloth from her mouth and all that came out was a muffled scream. Clearly, he couldn't hear her through the loud crackling of the fire, but his head snapped to her all the same.

Quickly, he rushed over and pulled the rag from her mouth. He opened his mouth to speak while trying to get the rope from her arms, but she pushed him away, as well as she could without her hands.

"No time." she said, surprised at how raspy her own voice sounded. "Go. The door is...tricked. Leave."

She could hardly get her words out as the smoke choked her further. The sound of the door swishing closed made more tear stains on her darkening face. "The window." she said, giving another shove towards the door.

"I'm not leaving you." he said stubbornly.

_ Oh._ He made her so mad sometimes. Couldn't he see she was trying to help him? Trying save his life? Trying to protect a small beauty in the world? Why couldn't he see that? She loved him too much to let him die trying to save _her _no less. She wasn't worth his life. She wasn't worth anyone's life. She'd done things he would shun her for. He'd probably kick her out the titans for some of the things she had done. She was filthy. She'd been touched by various men. She had blood on her hands. She was an experiment for X'hal's sake.

What he even saw in her that made him say she was his friend was beyond her. Why he decided to help her that first day, was beyond her. He was just_ too _kind of a life to waste. Especially on...on...a troq like her her. She was a nothing. A filthy, dirty, unforgivable nothing.

Robin couldn't get the stupid ropes off. They were tight knots. Army knots. Whoever did this was going to pay. They'd kidnapped her. _Her. His _lover. _Her! _When he found out who was behind this, he was sure he'd get a ticket for some of the things he wanted to do. If they messed with a single hair on her they'd mine as well commit suicide, because what he had planned was much more painful.

Robin didn't want to think about it, but the position she was in was pretty...well...open. Who ties a girl up with her legs spread a part like that? He was also wondering why her shirt was pulled so high up and why her pants were hanging so low. He'd figure it out later. Right now, he had to get her out those knots. If he had his belt he'd just cut her out, but that was gone along with his outfits. If he'd been thinking, he'd of borrowed one of Blue Jays.

Oh how he'd wring the person who did this's neck. If he was here right now he'd break his foot off and use the bone to cut Starfire out. As violent as that was, if made him feel better. Less destructive actually. While lost in his happy thought he'd barely noticed what was happening, but blinking back to reality, he realized he was holding the rope in a burnt pile in his hand.

His eyes furrowed. How had the rope burnt off? Thinking it was probably just a stray flame, he stood up and moved on to her feet, which came off surprisingly easy. They almost seemed to melt in his hands. He pulled Starfire up by her hand, but quickly let go when her shrill screams hit his hand. He grabbed her arm and inspected her hand quickly. He could see jagged points sticking out her hand that must have been bones.

He made a mental note to take another look at that. He crouched down and motioned her to do the same. He grabbed the cloth that was once in her mouth and put it to her nose.

"Breath through this." he said, holding his shirt up over his own mouth. "Try the door again."

As she half crawled, half walked to the door he searched around for something to break the window out with. Since, it was probably locked like the door. Unfortunately, someone already thought about that. The only thing in the room was clothes, boxes, and that table. That...hard...table. That hard table...with legs.

He grabbed the table by it's legs and began kicking at the top of it.

"It wont open." Starfire said, coming over beside him.

Robin gave the table another kick before it finally gave in and broke apart. The fire that was once only on one side of the room was now everywhere. He grabbed Starfire's good hand and they both made their way to the window. The heat jumped around and singed Robin's bare arms. His uniform was mostly fire proof. Oh how he wished he had it right now. But thinking, he knew he'd give it to Starfire in a heartbeat.

He stood up and gave the window a hard blow with the table leg. A small, barely noticeable crack formed on the window. Robin hit it several more times before a inch of a crack could be seen. By the time he'd be able to bust open the window, they'd both be fried. But he didn't think about it, and refused to tell Starfire that. So he hit the window again, harder.

Even when the leg was bent almost 45 degrees, he still hit it with all he had. But now, he was rotating between his fists, his foot, and the table leg. He turned around periodically to check on Starfire, who was now just sitting and trying to breathe through the cloth. He patted out a flame that was starting at his pants and continued to hit the window. A larger crack formed and Robin could even feel a small bit of wind. With renewed strength, he hit the window again. And again. And again, until the crack turned into a hold big enough to fit his fist into.

He stuck his face to hole for a second, breathing in the fresh, but brisk, wind outside. Turning around to Starfire, he decided to allow her to have a fresh breath as well, but he noticed she was flat on her back. He quickly scooped her up and held her face to the window. Still, she didn't respond, but he figured she just needed to get out of the heat.

Wrapping his hand in one of the clothes, he stuck his hand through the glass and began pulling on it from the outside. Large cracks formed around hole and eventually they gave way, allowing fresh air in. The chilly wind outside threw his hair back in a windy dance behind his face.

He picked Starfire up again, placing her injured hand in her lap, and sat on the windowsill, looking for a easy way down. They were at least 5 stories high. If he were alone, he'd probably risk it and just tumble at the bottom, but he couldn't just jump and tumble with Starfire in his arms. He needed to find a easier way down.

He glanced back into the burning room. Nothing was even remotely recognizable now, everything was engrossed in large orange and yellow flames. He couldn't make a rope if he wanted to. Nothing here was trustworthy or even together anymore. He felt Starfire jerk in his arms. Thinking she may have been waking up, gently sat her up in his lap. But she didn't wake, she didn't even move much, just scooted away from him a bit.

Looking down, he realized why she was moving away from him. He quickly patted out the fire that had started on her side and looked closer to inspect the wound, but he couldn't get a good look from his position. The shirt had burnt a hole, but nothing to revealing. He'd decided to look later. For now, he'd just be mindful of the burnt flesh.

He looked besides the window. A thin drainpipe was scaling the wall. If led from one of the above windows, down all the to the second to last window. Figuring that that was closer than where he was , Robin decided to try and scale it. He picked Starfire up further and put her over his shoulder, praying that she didn't fall off.

A flame jumped from the fire that was now right at his back and lit a small part of his shirt on fire. He patted it out quickly and leaned towards the drainpipe, reaching his foot out towards it first. Another flame jumped at him, this time catching his neck and sending him off the windowsill. In the few seconds it took him to feel the burning in his neck and fall, he had already pushed off the wall towards the drainpipe and latched on.

The burning in his neck quickly died out in the moist air. He looked towards the dark skies that seemed to be debating whether or not they were ready to open. Robin hoped they waited until he was at least on the ground. He wasn't sure if-

_And there was the rain._

Just as he expected, the heavy rain that fell, quickly slicked up drainpipe and Robin began sliding down. Slowly at first, but soon he was going as fast as he would free falling. He couldn't help his own shrill screaming as he and Starfire increased speed. Closing his eyes tightly, he held tightly to the drainpipe.

Going at what seemed like maximum speed Robin screamed even louder as his arms were yanked on as he and Starfire stopped. He cracked open his eyes to see what had caused him to stop suddenly. He looked up at the drainpipe through his matted down bangs just in time to see a dry drainpipe just getting wet with rain again. He wondered how the drainpipe had dried itself but quickly tossed the question aside when he looked down at his hands.

They seemed to be glowing a pale green color, much like Starfire's did when she needed to heat something up slowly. Robins eyes bulged beneath his mask as he looked at his slightly lit hands. He hadn't even felt any heat let alone noticed he was drying the drainpipe.

The drainpipe became slick with rain water again and Robin began to slide, but by that time he was nearly at the bottom of the pipe. Unfortunately, the drainpipe didn't go all the way down to the ground. He was about a story in the air, thankfully, he was pretty sure he could jump it. In swift motion, he had let go. A small feeling of flying enveloped him before he touched the ground. His ankles stung a bit, but that was the least of his worries.

He laid Starfire down in the grass and laid down besides her, letting the rain wash the soot off his face. He felt oddly drained and tired. Blaming it on all the excitement, he slowly lifted his hands up and in front of his face. They looked like they always did. Calloused and rough. He turned his hands over so he could look at the backs. Same. Calloused and rough. Faint scars and a few marks were he had broken bone in the past, but nothing out of the ordinary.

He pushed his wet bangs out his face and turned his head towards Starfire. He had saved her. She was safe. Another mission accomplished. He'd add this to his mental accomplishments. But, then, who had done this in the first place? Why had they wanted her and where had they gone? It didn't fit the previous pattern if the took her just to take her. It had to be part of some bigger plot, some kind of hidden message that he was supposed to figure out.

A car horn blew.

Robin sat up in time to see the T-Car coming out of the underground tunnel. Blue Jay immediately hoped out the car and ran towards them.

"My tower!" screamed Cyborg who had probably seen the smoke coming out of the broken window.

"Dudes, you okay?" Beast Boy asked, beating Blue Jay by turning into a rabbit.

"What happened?" Blue Jay asked.

Robin waved them off. He'd explain when they got inside. Cyborg pushed the fact that one of his rooms was currently on fire and carried Starfire inside. Blue Jay helped Robin, who was still feeling dramatically exhausted.

-ATOF-

Sitting on the couch, Robin caught the towel that Cyborg threw at him.

"You wanna tell us what happened?" Cyborg asked, itching to hear some next plot in the mysterious organization.

"Not really." Robin answered "But I guess I need to."

Robin related all of what had happened, being sure to leave out the glowing hands part and compromising position he had found Starfire in. that would be something he'd speak to her privately about.

"Dude." was all Beast Boy could say. "That is so messed up."

"You probably want to get to bed now." Blue Jay said, noticing his brothers tired expression "You look beat."

Robin nodded, standing up.

"You can use my room." said Raven, who oddly enough had _just _appeared.

"And where were you the whole story?" asked Cyborg, soundly a lot like a scolding father.

"There." Raven said, pointing at a darkened corner. "I can put a field around my bedroom tonight. You'll be safe that way."

Robin nodded again, picking up a still knocked out Starfire. "She's going to be okay right?" he asked, while him, Raven, and Starfire walked down the hallway. "I mean, we didn't do any tests or anything on her. She could-"

"-Look Robin" Raven interrupted "I know theres more to your story. Now would be the best time to say it."

She was honestly getting a migraine from how much he was thinking about her. It was sickening. How could one guy, think about the same girl so much. And vise-versa. He seemed to be all Starfire ever thought about. She'd have to think more about how she could change that.

She opted to take the stairs, so that he'd have more time to tell his story.

"I'm waiting." she said, when he didn't speak.

"When did you become my psychiatrist?" he asked undignified

"When a presence made itself comfy in your mind. Now go on. What didn't you tell us?"

"I told you basically everything...except..."

"Except what?"

"Well, when I was trying to cut the ropes...I dont know, they just kind of...burnt? I know I'm not making any sense, but it was like a fire had burnt them up. But thinking back, the fire hadn't spread that far yet. The same happened with the bindings on her legs."

Raven nodded her head, silently telling him to continue. Obviously, that wasn't all he had to say. "Continue."

Robin huffed at her. Stupid empath.

"Ok, so the really weird part happened when I was scaling the drainpipe."

"You were scaling a drainpipe?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, the door wouldn't open. Anyway, when it started raining the pipe got wet and I slid down a few feet, when suddenly, I stopped. I looked up and the pipe was completely dry, until the rain wet it again."

"Your hands?" Raven asked.

"My hands?"

"Yes, how did your hands look?"

"I dont kn- wait. Actually, they were- and your gonna think im really crazy for this one- but they were glowing. Green!"

Robin almost slipped on the steps from his excitement. This would be when Raven told him that there was nothing to worry about. The presence did that to some people. No problem. He'd still completely normal. Or as normal as he had ever been.

"Like Starfire." She said instead.

"Like Starfire, what?" he asked, disappointed with her choice of words.

"Your hands. They were glowing like Starfire's, right?"

That had been the first time he had thought about it like that. In a way, they were like Starfire's. They could have burnt the rope or dried the drainpipe.

"Well, not exactly. They weren't as bright." he said, remembering the slight light they gave off. It was no where near the starbolts she always made.

"Thats because you didn't expel a lot of power." Raven said, answering his problem "Starfire's hands can glow like that too."

"But...but...that would mean the presence was real." Robin stammered. Up until then, he had hoped that Raven was just miscalculating her abilities and over estimated some training exercise as some kind of presence.

"What would make you say it wasn't real. I told you it was." she said, opening the hallway door.

"It's just...I know what _I _lost. My belt. But, what did Starfire loose?"

"Has anything weird happened lately?"

"No, not really. Nothing about her, anyway."

"Are you sure? No loss of balance. Extra fatigue. Strength loss..."

"Wait, wait, wait." Robin said stopping her. "Strength loss? She can loose that?"

"Well, hypothetically speaking, she could loose anything. Her hair, her eye color, her actually eyes."

"Please stop scaring me Raven." Robin said. The thought of Starfire loosing just one of her beautiful features was making his head hurt.

"Then," Robin said, as he remembered something "Remember when...um...well yesterday, when you um..."

Raven knew what he was talking about. That attack thing that she had no recollection of. When she had, _apparently, _attacked him and Starfire with her mind. She just remembered waking up and seeing them both on the floor. Robin hadn't had a pulse and she had freaked out and ran to find his brother.

"I remember." she answered plainly.

"Well, when we woke up, I kept hearing her voice in my head. And she said she kept hearing mine. It coordinated with what we were saying, but we never said anything out loud."

"Interesting." Raven stated "Have you noticed anything else off about her or you?"

Robin shrugged. Had he? Yes, actually he had. But he wasn't sure if it was a big deal or not.

"Well, have you?"

"I may have noticed a _slight _drain in her strength. But I'm sure it's probably nothing. She was trying to open a jar yesterday and couldn't get it, but I opened it without a problem."

"Did she loosen it?"

"I dont know, Rae. I'm just telling you whats been happening."

"Well, test it." she said, unlocking her door "Test her strength. If she cant beat you in a arm wrestle or something, than you know she's lost her strength."

"But in exchange for what?" Robin asked. If he gained Starfire's abilities, than what did she gain?

"I'll do some tests tomorrow on the both of you. But in the meantime, be careful. This may be all. You gain her starbolts and possibly flight. She looses strength and gains, I dont know, say, your balance. But then, there may be more. You both could have more ability than you presently know about. So, keep a handle on your emotions and keep an eye out for anything odd."

Robin nodded numbly, walking inside Ravens room. It felt odd going in her room and knowing he was going to stay. Sleeping on the bed she normally did. With Starfire besides him, no less.

"Last chance. Once I put up the barrier, you wont be able to get out. So if you have to use the bathroom or something..." she trailed off, knowing he got the gist of what she was saying.

"No, I'm good." he said.

She nodded her head and closed the door behind her. Robin waited for some kind of sound, or maybe the walls to cover over in black power. Although, the walls were nearly black already. But nothing came, or happened. He shook his head and laid Starfire down on the bed. Turning on a strange dark lamp, he watched the gentle raise and fall of her chest. She was so beautiful.

Whatever notion he had felt in the bathroom before he thanked with all his heart. If he'd been seconds later he might have lost her forever. He'd still wring whoever did this's neck. They were not going to get away with this. He was not going to lose her. Especially since she didn't know who he was yet.

Oddly enough, he didn't shudder when he thought of revealing his secrets to her. In fact, he'd probably feel good about it. Sure he'd blow Bruce's secret too, but he didn't have to. He could avoid all names, but for some reason he didn't want to. He wanted her to know everything about him. About his mentor. About Alfred. About Barbra...no wait. No he didn't. He'd avoid Barbra's name at all costs. _She_ was just a friend.

He decided. He'd tell Starfire who he was as soon as she woke up. If she gained some of his memories than he'd rather explain them anyway. So in a way, he was helping _her _out by helping himself out.

He sat on the bed and began shaking her arm. He needed to start talking now before he backed out of this. She swatted at him, relieving Robin that she was still alive. He shook her again, flinching when she hit him in his arm, but instead of feeling the burn of a super strengthed human, he found that her hit was anything but painful. It actually felt, soft. It tickled his skin.

He sat her up on his own, he body limp in his arms.

"Wake up, Starfire."

She groaned at him, using his arm to keep herself from falling back onto the bed. In return, he put his arm around her waist keeping her even more steady, and relieved that the his back was facing the lamp so that she could hardly see his blush.

"Are-" he froze as that familiar headache threatened to split his head in two. Thinking back to what Raven had said about controlling his emotions, he took a deep breath. Relaxing.

"Are you alright?" he asked, pleased when no fiber pulling or pounding reverted through his head.

"I...believe so..." she spoke, but suddenly, as if she had an epiphany, or a sudden burst of adrenaline, she left her spot on the bed and somehow winded up in Robin lap. She dug her face into his shoulder ans seemed to be shaking.

For a second, Robin blacked out. His vision completely vanished, only showing quick flashes of images, most of which involved a bright orange color. The images came and went so fast that he hadn't had a chance to really see them. Within the next few seconds, he was back in reality, holding a shaking Starfire in his lap.

Still a bit hesitant, he slowly wrapped his arms around her, slowly stroking her hair until she calmed down. Even when the shaking subsides, he didn't let and she didn't make a move to leave his embrace.

"What has occurred?" she asked almost timidly into his neck.

Robin refrained from bursting into laughs when she spoke in his neck. Her warm breath tickled his skin to no end, but he pushed the feeling aside long enough to answer her.

"Um, im not sure how much you remember, but when I found you in that storage room the room was on fire. To make a long story short, I untied you, busted out the window, scaled the drainpipe and the team arrived pretty soon after that."

"You scaled a drainpipe?" she asked, disbelieving "_With _me?"

Robin shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't a big deal to him. What _was _a big deal was the fact that he had dried the drainpipe while in motion. Thinking back, without that ability, he could have easily broken his foot or arm in that fall. Or worse, his neck. He was pulled out his thoughts when Starfire's arms wrapped around his neck and she drew him into a hug. One that he gladly excepted.

Much unlike her old hugs, where she normally stopped blood flow and breathing abilities, this hug was soft. Firm and meaningful, but soft, and Robin reveled in it. A actual affectionate hug. And he could still breathe in it. Just to prove it to himself, he took a deep breath, inhaling the fruity smell of her hair while he was at it.

It seemed as if neither wanted to let go, but the moment was becoming awkward. She pulled back first and scooted off his lap, seemingly embarrassed.

"Forgive me," she said, avoiding his eye contact "I merely forgot where I was."

Robin waved his hand at her. "Forget about it. But..." he started "We _really _have a lot to talk about."

Starfire raised an eyebrow at him and made herself comfortable on the bed. For the first time, she seemed to notice that she was in Ravens room. Opening her mouth to question Robin he cut her off.

"-We'll talk about that too. But for now..." he set his right elbow on his folded knee and held his hand out to her. "We need to do a arm wrestle."

She skeptically looked at him, but placed her right elbow on her folded knee as well.

"Ready?" he asked

"Ready." she responded.

As the game began Robin decided to just hold his arm still. If she could beat him, which was bond to happen, he didn't want to get it sprained like the last time. But oddly, nothing seemed to happen. He wouldn't even be able to tell she was trying if it weren't for her twisted face. Clearly she was giving her all.

He raised a eyebrow at her. She had lifted her elbow off her knee- which she knew was cheating- and was pushing with all her weight onto his hand. She even sat on his hand, trying to get it to bend the other way. After about a minute of watching Starfire try everything she could, he eventually just brought his hand down and won the game. She was slightly panting from overexertion, yet Robin hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Okay..." he trailed off "test number two."

He had to know. Just _how _much strength had she lost?

"Can you pick me up?" he asked, standing.

Starfire seemed to scoff at him. Of course she could, she always could. Besides the fact that he weighed just about nothing she was a superhuman. She could lift just about anything. Robin watched as she threw a bit of her hair back over he shoulder that had fallen in her face during the arm wrestle. She cracked her thumbs once and bent down to try and pick Robin up from around his legs. She'd hold him upside-down just to get her point across that she was no weakling, but the moment she tried, she realized that that wasn't going to happen.

She tried a few more times, her high point being when he stood on his tip-toes hoping to help her out a bit. She collapsed back on Ravens bed, suddenly very tired.

"Why am I no longer strong?" she asked Robin, who had flopped down besides her.

"I'll explain that later too. But for now, lift that lamp." he pointed to the single lamp that was lighting up the room.

Instead of questioning his 3rd odd request she stood and walked over to it, trusting he'd explain things to her in time. She picked up the lamp with little difficulty, holding it in one arm to show the easiness. "Good." Robin responded. He pointed to the table the lamp had been sitting on.

Placing the lamp back down, she bent to try and lift the table. She gave a tug, but the table on lifted about 2 inches off the ground before her arms gave in and she had to drop it. She crossed her arms over her chest and sat on the bed next to Robin.

"Ok-" he started but she cut him off.

"-NO. No more tests. I am clearly no longer strong, for whatever reason you deem me unworthy to hear."

Seeing her pout like that softened Robins heart. He wasn't going to make her do anymore tests anyway.

"Its not about being worthy, Star. I just want to make sure you understand this, that's all."

"Understand what, Robin?"

Robin sighed, running a hand through his hair. He felt as if he had tole this stories a hundred times. Everyone wanted to know what was going on, even when he had no clue himself. Of course, Starfire needed to know. Most of the stuff that was happening involved her too.

"Well," he started "Remember, last night when we had that break in?" she nodded so he continued "That guy who broke in-"

"He had kissed me." she said, sounding bitter.

"Yeah, the guy who..." Robin struggled with himself to get it out "_...kissed..._you. Well, Raven thinks his powers were a bit more powerful than we thought. Apparently, he also has the ability to plant presences in people mind."

Starfire's mouth opened, but Robin knew what she was going to say, so he kept going

"I have no real definition of what a presence is. All I know is that it could _give_ us abilities, but it has to exchange things we have for them. That's why I was testing your strength. I think you may have lost it in exchange for something else. I lost my belt, and that hardly seems fair. Me loosing a material and you loosing an actual power. But anyway, tomorrow Rae's gonna see if she can figure out what it is we gained."

Starfire nodded her head, seemingly thinking everything over. If there was anyone who could understand Robins need to have a organized mind it was her. She may seem naive, because she was- on earth. Robin knew for a fact that she only seemed that way because she was knew to the planet. But in reality, or in a subject she understood rather, she was quite smart and strategic, just like him. She didn't crave control like he did, but she could certainly take it when needed. She was a natural born leader, just like him and she had her own planet to prove it.

"Starfire." Robin said almost as timid as her. He figured now was as good as time as any to tell his life story.

"Yes, Robin?" she looked at him with those bright green orbs that she called eyes.

"As my best friend..." he continued, not quite sure where he was going "I dont think we should have any secrets between us." he shakily lifted his hands to his mask, and pulled it off.

Starfire seemed frozen. She didn't blink or move and Robin was becoming concerned with whether or not she was breathing. But eventually, her hands slowly lifted up to his face. He let her feel the skin around his face carefully. Probably memorizing the color and shape exactly.

"Their beautiful." she breathed.

Another weight seemed to be lifted from his shoulder. Her approval of his face was more than enough to put him at ease. The look in her eyes showed true genuineness and he appreciated it. He looked back into her eyes with just as much intensiveness. He almost felt as if he were seeing her for the first time. The fiber in his mask allowed him to see, much like a one way mirror, but without she seemed to radiate beauty. Despite having taken off his mask almost everyday he still felt vulnerable. Eyes were the windows into the soul, and Starfire's eyes where soulful enough. It was bad enough that she already knew him better than anyone, with the exception of his brother, but now she could really see deep inside him. He prayed that 'love' wasn't written too deep in them.

Gaining some courage his stuck his hand out at her.

"Hello. My name is Richard Grayson."


	6. Some sort of Paradise

I'm Backsies!  
>Did Ja miss me? Hope ya did, cause I got some stuff for you today!<br>I would just like to to take a moment and say thank you to Hey-wazup-stalker. Your my first viewer (and only) and  
>though I ask to be reviewed, <em>you were th<strong>e only one <span>sweet enough to do it<span>!**_  
>*takes deep breath*<p>

Anyway: I own nothing or no one...Except Mr. Crabs. Sike I dont own him. Darn. But I do own Blue Jay. YAY!

* * *

><p>-A Test Of Faith-<p>

It took some explaining- and blushing- on Robins part to try and tell Starfire that yes, a dick was the male reproductive organ, but it was also his nickname. And no, the nickname had nothing to do with his _actual _reproductive organ.

"So," she said, just to make sure she had it right "your nickname is Dick, but it has no affiliation to the actual meaning of the word."

Robin, or Dick at the moment, nodded his head.

"Exactly."

He was was cut off from his next sentence by her giggling. She had one hand slightly covering her mouth, but it did her no good.

"What?" he asked, a grin on his face from her contagious laugh.

"It is nothing." she responded, trying hard to keep the smile off her face. "It is just...all those times Beast Boy or Cyborg have called you, 'the dick' they have actually been saying your nickname. That is called 'irony', yes?"

"Yeah that's irony." Dick laughed. They both fell into a comfortable silence.

"Well," he said after a moment. "Now you know all about me."

Starfire's eyes were suddenly cast down. She seemed as if she had something she wanted to say, but couldn't find the words. She fiddled with her thumb nails for a bit before actually looking him in the eye. He could practically _feel _some type of foreboding hanging in her next words.

"Indeed." she said simply "Yet, you know practically nothing of me."

Dick already knew her problem. She felt like she had to return the gesture. But in his opinion, she didn't need to. He told her his life story because he wanted to, not because he felt obligated.

"Star, you dont have to tell me anything if you dont want to. _I_ told you because _I _wanted to. You dont have to feel obligated to say anything, if you dont want to."

"Yet I do." she countered "I am just...afraid of what you may think."

"Star, after all of the things you just heard me do, you still feel that way?"

"You have none of the idea of the things I have done."

"No idea, and I promise, nothing you say or have done can change the way I see you."

He scooted towards her in his crossed leg position until both their knees were touching, just to prove his point. She gave him a appreciative smile before taking a deep breath.

"I suppose the first thing I must tell you is my name."

"You dont have to." Dick said, making sure she knew he was serious about only saying what she wanted to. She gave a knowing smile at him, but shook her head.

"But I _want _to. I am called Koriand'r on my planet."

Dick went over the name in his mind many times. He thought it was pretty, but a bit of a mouthful.

"But it is a bit long." she said, as if reading his mind "Galfore calls me Takori or just Kori."

"Takori." he repeated out loud. He _really _liked that name.

"The 'Ta' in the name means pretty, or beautiful, the 'Kori' means star, and And'r means fire."

"Ta Kori. Beautiful Star. That really is beautiful." Dick said, unable to stop saying her name.

Starfire blushed brightly and Dick couldn't help but notice how the both of them had been doing that a lot lately.

"I was born to Myand'r, or _Sunfire_ my father_,_ and Luand'r, or _Moonfire_ my mother. Both were the grand rulers of Tamaran. Of course you already know my older sister Comiand'r. Or Blackfire." She clarified at his confused state. "I also have, or had, a younger brother, Ryand'r."

"Had?"

Dick had to give himself a mental head slap. 'Had?' what kind of stupid question was that? He wanted to prove he respected her privacy. If she told him than she told him. But he just had to ask, didn't he?

"Yes." she answered, more down than he had ever heard her. "When he was younger...well, no I should probably start from the beginning." she shook her head, seemingly trying to organize her thoughts.

"When I was younger, my planet- Tamaran of course- had been attacked by the Gordanians. We were a peaceful planet, therefore we had no real need for weapons and armies. But, the Gordanians seemed to have everything. They were dominating the war before we even knew one had started. They threatened to destroy us, create a genocide. In a last effort to save our people my mother and father tried to make a deal to the Gordanians. Our planets peace for Comiand'r, but they weren't satisfied. So, my parents presented me into the deal and the Gordanian accepted."

Dick tried to keep his face neutral. Tried to keep the anger that a little girl was just sold to another race completely without any consent of her. True, the fate of her planet and all the people on it depended on her, but it hardly seemed right. They were her parents for crying out loud. They should have been trying to protect her if anything, not making deals to sell her. Dick left his mind as she continued talking.

"Comiand'r and I were sold as slaves. We had to cook for the ships fleet. Make their beds. Run their baths. Clean up their messes. Basically anything they wanted. A few times, they would try and rape one of us. But we, how you say 'watched each others backsides'. We never left the others sight, always were together, fighting off each others wards."

Dick was no longer trying to hide the anger in his face. Now that his mask was gone, he was sure she saw how angry he was. So, that's the type of people her parents were. The too-busy-for-my-children type. They sold their two ONLY daughters into slavery and probably sat back on their over-pampered BUTTS and just hoped that their kids didn't DIE so soon, so that they'd be able to live longer. He came out his his angered mind when he saw her staring at him oddly. He figured more of his anger showed through than he expected.

"Sorry, Star. Go on." he prompted, waiting for some happy news.

She nodded "After a year or so, we were sold again to the psions. The Psions were a race of science. They used my sister and I for very different reasons. To them, we were not just slaves, we were test experiments. Their top project was testing how much solar energy could fit into a humans body without killing them. Comiand'r and I were placed in labs and jabbed and poked and prodded all day. They hooked us up to a machine daily, and forced concentrated solar rays into our bodies."

"Did it hurt?" Dick asked, but he didn't need her answer. Her face answered it for him.

She seemed to be staring off at nothing. Her face blank of all emotions and her eyes unblinking. She jumped back a tremendous amount when he placed a hand on her knee, trying to draw her out of her troubled mind.

"I apologize." she answered, coming back down to earth. He would have told her to take her time or to just stop period, but she was already talking again. "My sister and I endured that for many years. All the touching and poking. And the touching... the touching." he voice began to shrink and she pulled her knees to herself.

Dick couldn't help himself. He needed to touch her at that moment. Sliding around to sit the same way she was, he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He rocked back and forth slowly, running a hand through her hair. She clutched his still burnt up shirt. He could feel drops of water, which was probably her tears, soaking through his shirt.

It took a moment for her to recompose herself.

"You dont have to go on." he asked, almost begged.

He didn't know if he could take anymore. The thought of her being treated as some type of animal was paining his heart in a way that he had never experienced before. They treated her worse than a animal, they treated her like a slut, a skank. He had no doubt in his mind why the words 'touch' was being repeated by her. She was beautiful to him, and every other guy on the planet. Why would that be any different when she was a child. The inhuman animals had done more to her than he could ever imagine her going through. He thought his life was messed up.

"I wish to continue." she said, wiping the final tears from her face. "The experiments that were done on us turned horribly against them. They believed that we would just perish after to many injections, but our bodies responded differently. They absorbed the energy, instead of try and rid it. They took it in and allowed us to channel them in a way useful to us."

She lit a starbolt in her hand to show the result, and Dick instantly made the connection.

"We used the powers to escape. We...had to take...drastic measures." she spoke lowly.

Dick couldn't help the "Good." the had slipped through his mouth. She looked at him as if her were crazy.

"Did you not hear me?" she asked, almost enraged, but he could see that the anger wasn't directed towards him. It was directed at herself "Dick, I killed people. People who probably had nothing to do with the experiments. Innocent Pilates and maids and chefs, all dead because of me. Because I was angry at what their race had done to me."

"You weren't in your right mindset." he told her "You were enslaved most of your life and you got a chance at freedom. I dont blame you for holding on to it."

She seemed to think this over. She knew she wasn't in her right mindset, her nor Comiand'r. She had remembered how bad she wanted to get home. To see her baby brother again. To hear the crowds applause of her and her sister bravery. But that didn't make what she had did right. She shook her head. The more she spoke the faster the story was over.

"Perhaps you are right." she answered. Dick could see that she wasn't going to let it go like that, but he was going to give her time. For now, he was just going to listen to the rest of her story.

"It took a few earth weeks to get back home, but we had finally made it, I was not much younger than I was now. Both I and Comiand'r flew straight home in a rush to reunite with out family, but the only person home was Galfore. He had a large scar over his right eye and he had a pair of crutches. Although rude of me, I was more focused on finding my parents and Ryand'r, or just Ryan I suppose.

After the initial shock that we were alive, he gave us a large hug. A hug from Galfore is not a gentle one." she laughed softly to herself, before the room-lighting smile disappeared from her face "He told us that our parents had died from a second attack from the Gordanians. They had trying to protect our brother, who was taken anyway. My sister and I was heart broken. We were the last two of the royal family completely. I opted to leave the planet and search for my brother. I wanted Com, to come with me. With the two of us, nothing would be able to stop us from saving Ryan, but she was too afraid. She swore that she'd never go within 300 feet of a Gordanian ship again. So I left her in search of my brother alone.

It did not take me long to find a small fleet of ships that belonged to the Gordanians. There were about 4 of them. I searched the first 2 ships with no sign of him, but getting on the 3rd ship, I was spotted by one of the guards. We were in a boiler room when he shot at me. He had hit one of the boilers and it had blown almost immediately. I could not continue my search, I had to leave."

Dick waited as she sniffed and continued "The blast had blown up the entire ship along with the one I had not searched and one that I had. The last remaining ship, one that I had already searched, had spotted me and was determined to get me back in their possession. I was not in the right 'mindset', as you had mentioned before, I was in no real mood to fight them, so I ran. I knew I could not lead them back to Tamaran, where I would put my people in danger, so I opted to go to Gramfort, a planet that my family and I had visited often for army needs. I knew they would be able to protect me.

But the thought that I may had just killed my brother was heavy on my mind. I had lost my way, searching for a place to rest for a moment. With the Gordanians following closely behind, I did not have much time. I was able to loose them for a time, and in that time, I had found earth...and you. Together with our friends, you helped me defeat the Gordanians and free myself from another possible slavery."

Dick's mouth was slightly ajar. He had no idea that when they met, she had still been grieving over her lost bother, lead a army of lizards from her home planet, and just lost her parents and sister (basically). She has to be the strongest willed person in the **world! **

"How do you smile everyday!" he asked, completely mesmerized with her.

She shrugged. "I think of all the things I do have. A friendly home. Friends. Food. Things other people do not have that I do. I am thankful that I am so fortunate."

Dicks mouth dropped open more. When things had gone wrong for him, he just beat the crap out of some thug. Or ran away. Or moped in his room, waiting for someone else to cheer him up. She. Starfire. Koriand'r. Takori, she was his hero, in every sense of the word. She took the badness with the good. Brightened other peopled days, when she couldn't brighten her own.

She had lost her home, mother, father, brother, and sister (who once was her friend but was not her enemy) all in different days. Dick just had that one day, where his parents died. Although he wasn't demoting the importance to himself, at least it was on the same day. She had different days to think about. More people to grieve. More things to fear.

He still couldn't understand how she smiled everyday. Even if he thought about all the thing he had, it would never dull his pain to the point to being as kind as her. It only deepened his love for her. Decided to try and put them on a happier subject rather than their broken pasts, he brought up a question that he'd been meaning to ask ever sense...3 seconds ago.

"Hey, um, Takori. You mind if I call you that?" he asked, unsure if that was Galfore's thing or not.

She blushed again, but shook her head. "It is permitted."

Smiling at her bashfulness, he continued.

"Would it be too big of a deal if you taught me something that I was really interested in learning?"

"Like what?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"Like maybe, Tameranian?"

He knew she'd be thrilled to teach him anything, but the glow in her eyes when he asked made him want to ask her again. She seemed absolutely ecstatic to be able to share a bit more of her life with him, and he was happy to learn. Any way that he get closer to her was a way that he could show her how he felt. He had taken a big step that night with telling who he was, but when it came to talking about...feelings...thats where he got queasy.

He was just glad that that frown was off her face. She had seemed so sad telling her story, and for good reason. She belonged to a family of...butt holes. He decided on, trying to keep his mind from swearing. She belonged to a family of butt holes. Inconsiderate, stupid, incompetent, IDIOTS! They didn't even deserve to say she might have been in the family. Not that their was a 'they'. The only person she had left was her sister, who hated her. Had tried to kill her. Tried to get her thrown in jail. Who wants to say 'Oh, yeah. That's my sister, she tried to kill me the other day, y'know'!

"Dick." Dick snapped out his thoughts.

"Yes?" he asked, almost crossly. He hadn't meant to snap at her but his anger was still on her parents and sister.

"Your eyes." she said, pointing at his face, for emphasis.

"Whats wrong with them?" he asked, almost afraid of asking.

She tilted her head to the side for a moment. "Nothing. But moments ago they were...green. Not like the blue they are now."

"Which brings us back to the present." Dick said, suddenly feeling completely drained again "We really need to talk about our situation."

Takori nodded, though she seemed a bit hesitant. This would take more than a simple arm wrestle to explain. Although that had been helpful. He was glad that she didn't lose all her strength. She now just had the strength of a normal girl. And Dick knew better than anyone that you didn't need super strength to bring down someone 5 times your size. Now, he'd just have to teach Takori his methods.

"Remember when I talked about the presence and how it takes powers and exchanges and all that stuff?"

Takori nodded, staying quiet so she didn't interrupt.

"Well," he continued "Raven has reason to believe that I may have acquired your abilities- minus the strength. Again, she wont really know the extent of our abilities until tomorrow, but the glowing- or changing rather- eye color may just be a part of something I may have gained. Am I making any sense to you?" he asked, hoping he wasn't loosing her.

"No," she answered "I believe I follow. Though it it a bit confusing."

"Tell me about it." he said, with a shake of his head.

She subconsciously rubbed her arm, a sign that she was either unsure or thinking hard about something. Dick was amazed at the signs he knew about her. He knew that she only stuttered when she was lying. He knew that when she got embarrassed, she pulled her hair out in front of her face, as if she wanted to hide behind the red curtain.

But in the motion of touching her hand, she winced. Making Dick feel as if he too had pain in his hand. He had almost forgotten about her injuries. He held his hand out expectantly and she placed her hurt one in it.

He hid the pain he felt and severity of her shattered hand from his face. The best way to do that was to rid his face completely of emotion. If there was one thing he could do, it was pretend. He could wipe his face clear of any emotion, anytime. No emotion, no pain, no telling. He flipped her hand carefully in one hand and subconsciously bit the thumb nail on the other.

"Is it that bad?" she asked

"What?" Dick asked, sure he let on no hints "No, why would you say that?"

""You are biting your thumb." she said, as if that was the most obvious thing.

"So."

"You bite your thumb when you are nervous."

Dicks eyebrow went up. Ok, so maybe he wasn't the only one who could read tells. He hadn't even realized he was doing that. Maybe he was just as readable to her, as she was to him. He figured that without his mask, he was even more readable to her.

"It's...pretty shattered." he admitted "But im sure Raven can heal it for you. But..." he was suddenly curious "...how did you break it?"

He watched as Takori bent her head down, letting her hair fall slightly in front of her face. It created a upside down V shape that showed about a quarter of her eyes, as she looked at her bare feet.

"You will be angry when I tell you." she said, barely audible.

"Kori, I wont be angry with you." he said, still playing with the sound of her name on his lips.

"Not with me," she said, still barely audible "But with...the perpetrator."

"Why would I be angry?" he asked, suspiciously. "Kori, I need to know this."

She took a deep breath. "Alright. Then I shall tell you. But promise me this: you will not obsess over the perpetrator because he is not the one behind this."

"He? How do you know he's not lying?"

"He seemed to be...taking orders. From someone in his ear."

"Probably some type of communication devise. No ones in his ear." he assured her "Now, who would this perpetrator be, exactly?"

Deciding that if she waited any longer, she would find away around the question. So instead, she just blurted it out.

"Slade."

She felt like she was flying in loops looking at the way Dicks face changed. He first seemed surprised, but it quickly turned to anger, and then to the face he always made when he was trying to compose himself. He took a deep breath and rightened himself. "Go on."

In all honest truth, she was impressed. Anytime someone normally mentioned Slade's name, he went off on some rampage. He always needed to know why, when, where, what. She was glad he had put it behind him for her sake.

"Truthfully," she said "I am not very sure what the point of the...kidnapping, I suppose...was for. I merely heard a shuffling sound in one of the rooms. When I entered it, the door locked behind me. Of course, then I did not know I had no strength and punched the door, 'shattering' it as you have said. Slade quite easily over powered me and tied me to that table."

"Then what?" he asked, remembering the odd position he had found her in.

Instead of a answer though, he watched as she curled into herself, bringing her knees back to her chest. She buried her head in her knees, not bothering to move her hair when it fanned out over her knees, hiding her face and arms completely.

"I do not wish to talk about it." came her muffled reply.

Dick was a detective. From looking at her reaction, remembering her position and the tear stains that were on her face (although that could have been from the fire) and just knowing her period, he came to what he supposed was a educated guess as to what had happened.

For the second time that night, he crawled next to her and pulled her onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed his lips to her temple and ran a hand through her hair.

"Did he touch you anywhere?" he asked into her hair.

He knew she felt his body tense up when she nodded her head. He had expected this, but knowing he was right didn't ease his pain. He placed a hand between the top of her chest and the bottom of her neck.

"Below here?" he asked.

When she nodded, he placed a hand just below her chest.

"Below here?" he asked again.

She nodded again. He placed a hand as low as he dared on her stomach, which was just above her pants line.

"Below here?" he asked.

He relaxed when she shook her head 'no.' If he had, promise or no promise, he was going out to track down that bastard. And then kill him. No 'maybe' no 'possibly'. Slade would die. He may still, do that. If Ravens room wasn't so guarded, he may have done it that night.

"We should get some sleep." he said.

Backing up, he still held tight to her on his lap. With her so close to him, he realized that she had a burn mark on her side. He suddenly remembered back to when they were on that windowsill and how she had jumped away from him. Looking down, he noticed that the burn mark couldn't have been a stray flame from the fire.

Only because it was shaped oddly like his hand. He carefully held his hand beside it, positive that he had been the one to burn her. Decided that he'd look tomorrow- or today, he thought, noticing that it was 2 in the morning- he leaned over, cutting out the lamp, and carefully slid under the covers. Even laying down, he made no move to allow her to sleep beside him, but held tight to her on his lap.

-ATOF-

Takori couldn't sleep, and she had absolutely NO idea what was keeping her awake. It must have been her excitement. She was perfectly ecstatic with her life at the moment. Sure she was being hunted down and all that stuff, but she'd never felt better. It could have been the fact that she had seen Robins eyes just a few hours before, or it could have been the fact that he was still holding her now.

Whatever prompted him to feel the need to show his eyes, and share his name and life with her was beyond her. He had always been so reserved when it came to his privacy, and now here she was; laying on top of him while he slept. Well, laying on top was a bit of an exaggeration. Really, she was laying between. The moment he had fallen asleep, his body had relaxed tremendously, allowing her to slowly sink between his legs. She was merely laying on his chest, more comfortable than she had ever been, so why was she having trouble sleeping?

If anything, (besides ecstatic) she was relieved. She had gotten a lot off her chest. She was no longer a girl with a secret past. Well, technically she was, but not with Robin, or Dick rather, and that felt really good. They had no more secrets between them anymore.

Takori carefully readjusted her position. That was one of the first things she had discovered on her own about him. About 2 minutes into his sleeping he had locked his hands together. She supposed he did this every night, but with her in his arms she had been completely immobilized. The slightest movement only made his arms wrap tighter around her. It had gotten to the point where she couldn't breathe and had to wake him up.

He had still been half asleep when he woke, talking about some tasty camel and how they had been friends before he ate him. She had giggled profusely about that one. But the thought that he could do that in his sleep had intrigued her. How could someone be so active, when their brain and body was not. So, she spent the next couple of minutes purposefully moving around, while his arms tightened around her. She had tried different things, hoping to relax him enough to ease his grip.

Apparently, tickling made him tighten. Along with talking too close to his face, poking him in the ribs, and moving her legs against his. But, rubbing his chest, playing with his hair, and talking in his ear calmed him down.

She thought about this as she traced random shapes in his chest with her finger. He seemed more relaxed than she had ever seen him. His breathing was deep and even, he seemed to be having peaceful dreams, which she knew did not happen often, and his arms were loosely draped over her.

She was harshly ripped from her mind when a loud crashing sound seemed to shake the tower. Dicks arms tightened roughly as he quickly sat up.

"What was that?" he asked, his leader tone back.

"I am not sure." she responded.

She hopped off of him as he stood up from the bed. He made his way to the door quickly. He had been having probably the most peaceful, nothing-filled, dream he had ever had. Normally his dreams were filled with odd adaptions of old crimes, or replays of him loosing his parents or friends. That night, he had felt completely at piece. He thanked Takori being wrapped his arms. She always seemed to chase away his problems.

"Robin." Turning around from the door he had just reached, he saw Kori holding out his mask.

He gave a half grin and put his mask on. Opening the door he realized that no shield was up.

"The shield is down." Starfire observed.

Robin poked his head out the door and looked down both hallways, only stepping out when he was sure it was clear. Starfire stayed close behind him as they made their way to the elevator. Robin wished he had his communicator with him. That way he wouldn't have to go to see what the noise was. It could have just been Cyborg falling down the steps.

A ding sounded as the elevator arrived. When the doors opened, Robin almost walked in, stopping when he realized that no elevator was actually in the there. A few live wires danced, throwing sparks, where the original machine used to be.

"I think we found our bang." Robin clarified.

Before he got a chance to inspect the cables more, Starfire was already pulling him down the hall with her good hand.

"We must hurry." she said, slamming open the stair doors "What if one of our friends was injured?"

The thought hadn't really occurred to him. He was more worried about that voice he had heard early yesterday.

That's right, get on the elevator.

Robin jerked his head up, slipping on one of the stairs. That accident had been meant for him. Probably by Slade himself, but, why would they try and kill him? Didn't they need something from him? Were they expecting him to escape it? Or, was the voice in his head there on purpose because someone knew he'd avoid it thinking it was a trap?

He didn't have a chance to think any further because he and Starfire where bursting through the last stair doors and into the garage level.

Apparently, everyone heard it. The first thing Robin noticed was that Raven was healing Beast Boy- which would explain why the shield was down, she couldn't hold it up and heal at the same time. But Beast Boys ankle, it seemed, was the only thing she was healing. In fact, he was sitting up, leaning back on his arms with a tired look on his face.

"Cut cables." Blue Jay said, coming up behind them.

"But...I have no idea how that elevator held on till someone got in. It must have been tricked somehow." Cyborg added.

Robin nodded his head numbly. That was suppose to be his fall. His scare. His problem. No doubt Beast Boy had probably been on his way to bed or going to get a drink of water or something, then **BAM. **Out of nowhere, the elevator starts to fall. He zoned out his mind and listened as Beast Boy was relaying what had happened.

"I, mean, seriously dude. I'm like, this does not feel like its taken its time. So I look at the numbers and their going, like, a kabillion-zillion miles an hour. So I have just enough time to turn into a turtle then...**WHAM! **I hit the bottom. But dont worry about me." he said sounding completely unfazed "I handled it. Next thing I know Cyborgs hauling the broken thing of me and Raven healing my ankle, thanks by the way."

Raven wordlessly nodded at him. She watched as Starfire came over and gave him a big hug, which he graciously returned. Their was something in that hug that Raven didn't like. Of course, it was only her way of saying she 'was glad he was okay', but she couldn't help but feel a bit of anger towards the girl. It seemed as if she drew the attention of every male in the world. It wasn't fair that she could hug people, and they wouldn't see it as creepy- like they did her.

Starfire was in love with Robin, so why did this bother her so much? Especially when it concerned Beast Boy. The boy was a walking elf. What could possibly be drawing her to that toothy smile he always gave? Or those jokes he always told, trying to make her laugh? No one had ever tried to make her laugh. They knew it was lost cause. But why was he trying?

Raven didn't know and she didn't care. It was just Beast Boy. He tried to make everyone smile, right? Besides, even if she saw him as anything more -(which she wasn't)- why would he want to date her? She was the creepy one, right? Who wants to date a creepy one? Would Robin?

Of course Robin could. That boy wonder was as good as hers. She would **not **let him slip from her fingers. If she had to rip the alien girl apart and tell Robin she was attacked by a deranged duck, than so be it. She'd shave off all her hair in her sleep, lets see how Robin would like that. Or maybe throw bleach in her eyes, probably dulling the color. She could probably just claw them out, leaving ugly, gaping holes in their place. She probably have to quite the Titans if she went blind.

These were wicked thoughts, but she embraced them. Hugged them. Kept them close to her body. She liked them. The thought of Robin shunning her because she was no longer beautiful. Of course she knew that Robin was much to kind for that kind of treatment, but it was a good feeling.

-ATOF-

Robin cracked his head to the side. Raven was staring off into no where, but she had a small, minuscule smile on her face. Overall, it was just plain creepy. She was looking like that for the past 3 minutes. Blue Jay, Beast Boy and Cyborg had all said their good night's already, hardly noticing Ravens odd facial expression.

Beast Boy, though, had looked at her strangely. You could almost see him debating whether or not waving a hand in her face would lead him to certain doom. In the end he had just patted her arm, in a silent good night kind of way and left the last three titans.

"She seems...to be in some sort of trance." Starfire commented, doing what Beast Boy had feared, and waved a hand in her face.

Raven didn't flinch, didn't even crack a smile.

-ATOF-

What if Robin had been walking down the street and a 'mysterious raven' had dropped Starfire's body out the sky and in front of him? What would his reaction be?

No doubt he'd fall into depression. That was just a very Robin thing for him to do. Raven'd be his knight in shining armor, saving him from falling into the dark hole of nothingness. She'd tell him to move on, shedding tears for dramatic effect. He'd look up, and realize that yeah, he didn't need the redheaded twit. He needed someone who understood his dark lifestyle...and that it had been Raven he'd wanted the whole time.

That would be a good one. Or, what if...

-ATOF-

"She's not dead." Robin said, removing his hand from her wrist. "Her pulse is strong as ever."

"We mustn't leave her down here." Starfire said, holding her arms around herself "It is quite chilly down here. You could carry her to the common room, maybe."

-ATOF-

Raven heard that stupid bums voice. She said something like 'You can carry me anywhere, maybe' or she could have said 'You can kiss me everywhere, baby.'

Oh, the nerve!

Trying to make a move on Robin. **Here! **She was going to die.

-ATOF-

Something was wrong. Something in the air had changed. Before Robins brain had come up with a reasonable answer, he had his arms protectively around Starfire's waist, taking slow steps away from Raven. Starfire was clinging to him just as much, her fists tightly coiled in his shirt and her face half buried in his chest. So, she had felt it too.

Robin couldn't explain the feeling. Never had he been so sure of when something was happening without having the consent of his brain. Oddly enough, it seemed as if his brain had completely turned off, leaving his instincts and that weird feeling in his body to fend for themselves.

Slowly, almost unnoticeable, Ravens eyes cracked open. They were red, with two smaller glowing eyes above her original eyes.

Reflex told him to run, his brain said to cower and hide, fear probably passed out from fright because Robin couldn't hear anything from him. The only change his body seemed capable to make was to tighten his grip on Starfire, who intern was still backing up, only stopping when their backs hit the wall.

The first thing Raven noticed when she opened her eyes was that Starfire was wrapped up in Robins arms. They were looking at her oddly, probably embarrassed from being caught. Though she hadn't actually seen any intimate actions- and besides the fact that they actually looked kind of scared- she knew kissing and groping had been happening just moments before she opened her eyes.

That was alright. She'd feel better about the kissing and groping and whatever after Starfire's body lay dead on the ground. She'd of won. Robin would be hers. Though, she didn't know how he'd feel if he was present to actually watch her death. No matter, she'd cross that bridge when she got to it. For now, she had to allow her inner anger to actually be released. For the first time ever, she let her emotions out.

After letting a little slip from her mind and body, she expected her powers to just engulf Starfire and take her life, but once a bit of emotion slipped out of her the other emotions came rushing at her full force.

Bombarded by emotions, she seemed to no longer be able to control them. They bursts from her in a explosion of black power. She couldn't get them back in her if she wanted to; and what was worse, her powers weren't about to just destroy Starfire, but Robin who was also in the path. He'd be killed and the titans would be over. Unless his brother decided to take his role and lead the last of the remaining members. What would she tell them?

She screamed his name as loud as she possibly could, letting tears careen down her face like a river down a mountain. She screamed for his life. For her grief. For her friends. For Starfire, who really hadn't done a single thing to her. She had never hit her. Screamed at her. Judged her. She had only said kind words to her and tried to get her to go shopping. She was the good friend, not Raven. And now, she was going to die because of Raven.

Pressed against the wall, Robin held on to Starfire, who was shaking nonstop. The black power seemed to crawl like a spider, a part of it reaching out only to be sucked back in to it's base, and then reaching out again in a different spot.

He and Starfire slid down against the wall. The black energy seemed to tower over them and in one swift movement, came down full force. Robin held his hand out, as if it would be able to stop the glob-like substance that was drawn to them, determined to kill him and Star. Within a second everything was encased in black.

Was that it? Robin thought. He couldn't help but mentally laugh at the thought. Nothing had actually happened. The only difference he felt was a very heavy pressure on his chest. Though he wasn't really damaged, he couldn't breathe. He felt as if all his breath and energy was being sucked from his body.

Clearly he wasn't dead. And since he could still feel Starfire's shaking body next to him, she wasn't either. That he was grateful for. But he did hear her wheezing. For a moment, he thought it was him. And it was, but she was wheezing too.

He widened his eyes. They weren't shut, so why was it still so dark? His arm was still up, but for some reason he couldn't force it down. For some reason he felt as if he shouldn't force it down.

His heart was still beating a 'kabillion-zillion', as Beast Boy had called it, times a second, but it beat even faster when his outreached hand bumped Starfire's. With her shaking body cowering behind his, he hadn't expected her to hold out her hand as well. He had done it out of reflex, which was probably her reason too. Always protect the head.

Suddenly, the pressure on his chest left and he could breathe again. He and Starfire both took a deep breath. But instead of seeing the garage, he saw a blinding white light.

From Ravens view, it had looked like a giant wave had crashed down on top of Robin and Starfire. It splashed back up, and like all water did, returned back to where it had come from. Feeling her power enter back into her body, she was half relieved half afraid ever letting that happen again.

But rather than seeing Robins or Starfire's dead bodies (or alive ones, she hoped) she saw a white dome shape. It looked kind of like the black shield she protected herself with when someone attacked her or something nasty was coming down near her. She knew that it wasn't her making any white shields.

Walking up to it, she placed a tentative hand on it. It wasn't cold or very hot. It was just...warm. Clearly someone was feeding this thing energy, this always happened with her shield too.

Rolling her eyes, she knocked on it.

Robin couldn't see anything but white and a faint outline of Starfire's body, her arm still outstretched like his, but the moment he heard a knock, he knocked back, mimicking the first knock.

When Raven heard the knock, her heart did a little back flip. But she quickly pushed any resurfacing emotions back down. She knocked one of the only bits of Morse Code she knew 'R U Okay' she wasn't sure if you could add periods or question marks, but she supposed that if Robin was in that dome, still alive, he'd know what she meant.

A complicated message came back. She wasn't sure if it meant anything, but she knew she would never be able to understand whatever had just came back at her. So, she knocked her first message again and waited.

Long. Short. Long. Long. Y

Short. E

Short. Short. Short. S

That message was slower and easy for her to understand. In answer to her first question: Yes. Either Starfire or Robin or (hopefully) both, were alive.

"Rae, is that you?"

Raven froze. Of course she could have just tried to speak with them. The voice was muffled, as if it were on the other side of glass, but she knew it was Robins deep, melodic voice. He was alive!

"Robin, can you hear me?" she asked, just inches from the domes surface.

"Yeah, I can hear you. How do we get out of this thing?"

Taking a calming breath, Raven release just the tiniest amount of power, trying to pry open the shields boundaries. But the moment her mind and powers touched the globe, she was over whelmed with the sheer amount of force and power that was within the dome. Dropping to the ground on her hands and knees, she tried to catch her breath. That was just a tiny bit of her powers and yet she felt as if she had been hit my a locomotive. Even if she let all her powers out, she'd never be able to break the field, and would just end up killing herself with their over bearing power. The fact that her own emotions had been kept out was proof.

Finally standing to compose herself she walked back to the shield.

"Robin?" she called.

"Yeah?"

"I cant put the shield down myself. Your in control of this. You have to do it."

"How? I can't-"

"You can. You have to. Just relax. Put your arm down, because I know it's up."

Robins face twisted. Of course she knew it was up. But he couldn't relax. Not with Starfire shaking so bad next to him. It would take ages to calm her down. But as if she was reading his mind, her arm came down and she placed a soft hand in his.

Needless to say, he calmed down considerably. Her shaking had stopped and he could feel relaxation coming off of her. Forcing his own arm down he took a assuasive breath. He closed his eyes. Calming thoughts. Happy kittens. No, that's gay. Riding his motorcycle. Kicking Slade's basterdly butt. Frolicking puppies. Still, gay. Jumping ponies. What the... Tamaran. Are these **my **thoughts? Kissing Starfire. Oddly, that worked. And no non-straight thought came to his mind. Although, if anyone asked, those were NOT his thoughts.

When Robin opened his eye he was greeted with the emotionless face of Raven. She raised an eye brow at his and Starfire's interlocked hands. Blushing a little, he stood, pulling Starfire up with him. It was then that he noticed he was holding the hand that had been broken, just a few hours before. He inspected it over and over.

"Your hand." he said, looking her in her eyes.

"I see nothing wrong with it." she said, worry creased in her eyes as she inspected her hand as well.

"Exactly. Wasn't it shattered last night?"

It was then that realization hit her face. She gasped turning her hands over and over. Stretching out the fingers and flicking her wrists. "It does not hurt." she said, lighting a starbolt and tossing it into her other hand.

"Raven," Robin said, a little freaked with the whole situation. "We need to know what we can do, now."

She nodded her head and motioned for them to follow her. Needing some comfort, Robin took Starfire's hand in his. A familiar, returning buzz flew through his body. He didn't mind it, but knew that it wasn't entirely normal. The first time it had happened he had thought it was his body's hormones reacting to the fact that she had touched him, but now he wasn't so sure.

The buzz wasn't just a touch, it was a feeling. Not a mental feeling although he felt as if the touch had made them closer somehow, and not just physically. He felt energy flow through him, kind of like how he felt went that drainpipe had mysteriously dried itself. Shaking his head, he decided to focus on where Raven was leading him.

She had lead them out the garage and into the stairs. The went up past her level, Beast Boys level, Cyborgs, His and Starfire's, and lastly Nicks. Strangely, he felt something when he passed the floors. He could almost hear Beast Boys snoring and could almost see a green anaconda shifting into a mule and then to a penguin as he dreamed. When he passed Cyborgs level, he was sure that a beeping could be heard along with a quick image or Bumble-bee. Unsure as to why Bumble-bee would suddenly flash in his head he pushed the thought aside, as a more horrific image replaced his mind.

He could clearly see his parents as the fell from the trapeze, as he passed his brothers level. The image still wouldn't leave his head, even when they were another level above his. Another second went by before he heard the sickening crack of his parent's body's hitting the ground.

Starfire gasped, loosing her footing and slipping on the stairs. Had she not been holding onto Robin's hand, she surely would have fallen, probably forgetting about flight from fright.

"You okay?" he asked, she could feel the concern radiating off his body, as if a neon sign had been hung on his chest.

"I am fine." she lied, glad Raven hadn't cared enough to turn around.

The images that had just passed through her head were saddening and disturbing. She really didn't want to think about it anymore, but them sound of those poor people falling and screaming had somehow been frozen into her mind. The audiences faces where individually painted, although some faces were clearer than others. One that was really clear was a man. He had a strong jaw, and deep and dark eyes that seemed to say 'I've seen things you wouldn't dream about.'

She shook her head, whatever the image was, it meant nothing to her. It probably wasn't real, anyway. But why was she so shaky all of a sudden?

Robin couldn't help but think that the gasp and slip had been somewhat connected to the images he had just seen. Starfire's balance was impeccable. Something would have to distract her for her to slip. The memory was still in his head, but it was slowly receding. Robins mind was racing. What did all those flashes mean? Where they connected to something? Was it just his brain coming up with possible things that was going on in his friend's rooms? Somehow, that didn't seem likely.

Raven led Starfire and Robin to the top level of the tower, all the way to the last room to the east. Opening the door to her, felt as if she was sharing a secret. This was her special meditation room. A place for her to come when the tower was just too loud for her to handle. A place for her to vent when the emotions in the tower screamed non-stop.

The room was absolutely huge. There were no windows in the room. The only light source was a large crack in far corner ceiling. A bright yellow sun was rising in the sky, shining brightly through the crack, illuminating the entire room. Instead of a carpeted floor, or even hardwood, grass was lined everywhere. Even in and out of the bookcases that filled a side of the room. The bookcase was filled with tons and tons of books. Small, delicate, vines weaved in and out of the books settling calmly on top of a very thick one. Potted Lily's and Roses were strewn out creating a beautiful, soft, look. The room even had one of those Home Depot waterfalls. Though clearly fake, the sound of falling water made the room absolutely serene.

There was a small, plastic, flap that was hanging loosely by hole in the ceiling. Robin supposed it was for when it rained. Though, he wouldn't know where the light would come from. Over all though, he was utterly impressed with the décor. Never in a million years would he guess that Raven was capable of something so...beautiful. She had a way of making dark things work, but something so light and...happy? He half expected a cute blue bunny to hop across the grass that had neatly been laid down down and hand him a lollipop.

This place was worthy or small children singing 'It's a small world.'

"It's glorious." Starfire breathed.

He had almost forgot about her, but not really. There was no way that was even possible. Of course she loved this place. This was her dream home! He bet she wanted to roll around in the grass, calling for the blue bunny.

Her hand slipped from his and she clasped them together in font of her chest. He longed for the warmth of her hand back, but played it off by sticking his hands in his sweat pants pockets.

Raven strode over and levitated in the middle of the 'lawn.' she motioned them to stop their gawking, although the fact that Robin was gawking at something she did was nice, and to sit down. They obediently obeyed, sitting at her feet.

Closing her eyes, Raven motioned her hands up. Confused, Starfire slowly rose in the air, still cross legged.

"Hold hands." Raven commanded, still not opening her eyes.

Robin raised an eyebrow at Starfire, but took her hand nonetheless. A buzz went through his body and almost instantly, he began floating up besides her. In his fright he let go of her hand and landed with a oomph on his butt. Still, a bit disoriented, he barely heard when Raven told him to do it again.

With a furrowed elbow (and a hurt butt) he grabbed Starfire's hand again. He rose again, but this time, held tight to her. He struggled to keep his legs crossed and sense of downward without gravity holding him down. Raven reached out a hand, eyes still closed, and pushed Robins legs rightward, as he was starting to flip upside-down.

His grip on Starfire's hand loosened as he became more comfortable with the weightless feeling. With their fingers intertwined, it wasn't hard for him to think happy thoughts, which he found had made floating entirely easier than when he thought bad thoughts. He was actually feeling quite- relaxed. He closed his eyes, trying to keep the feeling.

He was floating, in a beautifully decorated room, with his fingers laced through Starfire's. How much more relaxed could he get?

"Now," Raven spoke, when she was sure Robin and Starfire was relaxed and calm "Open you mind and just relax."

Starfire did just that. Oddly enough, opening her mind seemed easy. Before she had always found it hard to 'open' her mind. She couldn't wrap her head around how something like your mind could be opened, but now she knew it wasn't literal, but figurative. She cleared her head of anything disruptive or disturbing and focused on the sound of running water.

She could feel Raven's presence as she searched around. It seemed like only a few seconds went by before she spoke again.

"Starfire, what are you thinking about." Starfire swallowed. She hadn't meant to be thinking about anything. Hanging her head a bit she thought for a moment before answering.

"Possibly-"

"-No!" Raven stopped her "tell me with your hands, I dont want Robin to hear."

Starfire nodded. For the first time since opening her eyes, she glanced at Robin. His eyes were still closed and he seemed as if he hadn't heard a word neither girl had said. Remembering how she had been thinking about how hungry she was, she pretended to pick up some imaginary food and put it in her mouth.

Raven nodded at her. "Alright. Go ahead back to meditating."

Starfire nodded her head and went back into her mind. It was strange, whenever she had meditated with Raven her mind was never a place. It was just a thing. She couldn't go in it and look around so to speak. She could just clear her mind and think about nothing. But now, it seemed as if her mind was a new world. A world she could walk around in. Explore. She knew that certain places in her mind would remind her of certain memories. She'd just have to find them.

But for the time being she was more than happy to just sit in the void of nothing. Not worrying about anything.

She didn't have much time to herself though because she was pulled from her mind by someone's snapping. Opening her eyes, she saw that Robin had been the one snapping at her. He gave her a boyish grin when she found her bearings, and returned with a girlish grin of her own.

"I've came to my conclusion." Raven said, pulling Robin and Starfire from their smiling competition. "To keep you both on the same page I'm gonna start with the simple stuff. Robin, you have Starfire's abilities. Starfire, you have Robins ability potential. In other words you could do what Robin can, but he'd have to teach you. Unfortunately his knowledge on his fighting skills belongs to him and him only for now. Okay, simple is done. The more complicated stuff may have you a bit confused. Tell me if I loose you. Starfire, you may not remember this, but Robin and I went into your brain that night we had a break in. We were there to wake you up, but Robin had awoken a presence, setting him off.

"The presence was only meant for him, but me being there kind of through it off. With you gaining new powers at the time and me already having powers, I may have mixed my abilities in with yours. So yes, you can do what I can, but I'm not sure the extent. There are many different extents to my abilities.

You could have the force, which enables you to move and lift things with your mind. You know, blow 'em up. There's the Power, which I have. You'd be able to go through walls and create things with your mind, including the black stuff I use to fling things at people with. There's the Change. Which is kind of like what Jericho can do, but not quite. You'd be able to go inside peoples head, but not control them. The Energy, which is what drives all the powers. You'd be able to switch injuries with people, borrow abilities, and take energy making you more active. There's the Field, which normally comes with something, I can do that, and so can you. That white dome thing, that was a field. There's the Unify which can give you the ability to tamper with emotions and bring people together. Then theres-"

"Raven stop." Robin nearly begged "Your saying to much. I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that I have Stars, abilities."

"I said this would be complex. But fine, I guess we'll find out what you have later. Next set of news." This earned a groan from both Starfire and Robin. "I did a simple test a few hours ago and now have reason to believe that because you had touched her in her mind, Robin, and did not let go, the presence somehow bonded you together. You will probably share memories and maybe even have a connection. Much closer than the kind you and I have Robin (which seriously **sucked **to Raven) you'll probably, in time, be able to communicate through your minds. I'm not sure the degree of the connection, though. You may just have a verbal connection. We already know you have a physical connection with your blood and heart. But I'm not so sure that's all."

"This is a lot to take in." Starfire said, deep in thought.

"Whoa!" Robin shouted.

Both Raven and Starfire's heads whipped around to where he was staring, which was just behind Raven.

"What?" Raven asked, seeing nothing.

"The suns set." Robin answered, seeing small twinkling stars through the hole. "How long have we been in here?"

"All day." Raven answered nonchalantly.

Robin suddenly looked to his right. The vines that weaved in and out of the bookcases were glowing pale colors of all different colors, lighting the entire room in a rainbow-like light. Decided that that was both cool and weird, he went back to his original topic.

"Why have we been in here all day?" Robin asked "There could have been trouble."

"There wasn't." Raven said "Besides, you have telekinetic powers now. You both really needed the meditation. For now on you'll both have to be extremely careful about everything. You **cannot** afford to allow your emotions room to play."

She pointed her finger at Starfire.

"You cannot cry."

She pointed at Robin.  
>"You <strong>must <strong>meditate everyday."

Another finger at Starfire.

"You will report to me if something changes or you feel strange."  
>Another finger at Robin.<p>

"And you will not try to make a black raven, lift boxes, blow things up, or anything of the like. You'll end up freezing the universe or something."

Both Robin and Starfire's heads bobbed up and down like bobble heads.

"And one more thing." She said, making a black disk under her and Robin feet.

She floated him up to the ceiling and made a portal through. She lifted him and herself high past the clouds, with Starfire trailing right behind them. The stars danced around shooting through the sky in their own dance of freewill.

Robin felt his ears pop at the altitude. He looked to Raven for an explanation.

"Rae, what are we doing up here?" he asked, almost shouting through the roaring wind.

"Learning." She said simply, and dropped the disk beneath his feet.

His screaming was loud enough to pierce through the howling winds. He flailed his arms and legs wildly, turning around in circles.

Starfire made a move to go after Robin, but Raven held her back, completely confident that she could hold the strength-less alien girl back.

"He has to learn this on his own." Raven said, calmly.

But this didn't stop her from yelling that 'He needed to think happy thoughts' though. But Raven was pretty sure his own screaming blocked her voice out. He needed to do this himself, yet Raven still followed his fall out of sight in case he really couldn't figure out how to do it. She made sure she wasn't seen. If he were to know he'd have a lifeline somewhere, he wouldn't try as hard.

Robin closed his eyes praying that he'd fall in some water and only dislocate his shoulders. He thought back to when he had been meditating. That calm, peaceful feeling of floating was now gone as was Raven. She had really just dropped him out the sky. What was she expecting him to do, fly?

Thinking about it, that was a really Raven like thing to do. Make him learn to fly himself. He laughed at that thought. The robin who couldn't fly was taught by a raven and a star. All those years of training on ground was now in need of improvement. He laughed again. What would Bruce say if he swooped down out of nowhere? He'd probably choke on whatever he _wasn't _eating.

"You are doing it." came Starfire's voice.

He looked up at her, and realized for the first time that he wasn't falling anymore. The smile vanished from his face when he began thinking about it and he began to fall again.

He passed through all the clouds and watched as the tower got closer. He didn't flail as much this time, but tried think happy thoughts again. But how could you think happily if you knew that if you didn't you'd go splat on the ground?

"Think happy thoughts!" came Starfire's voice again. She was free-falling next to him.

"I cant!" he screamed back at her.

The next thing Robin knew, he was face to face with concrete. He wrapped his arms around his head, but no pain came. He had almost thought he had done it, but he glanced up and noticed Starfire was holding his foot, but quickly dropped him on his head.

"Ow." he said massaging it.

"Apologies, Robin." she said quickly "Without my strength I couldn't hold on. You were too heavy."

He waved her off.

"Don't worry about it, you save me from becoming a flat Robin."

Raven soundlessly landing on the sidewalk that Robin had nearly become part of.

"And you!" Robin said, standing up "Whats up with dropping me out the sky?"

Raven shrugged at him.

"If theres anything I know about you." she said "It's that too much time on your hands is a bad thing. I knew that I couldn't just tell you not to use or practice any of your powers, so I gave you something to work on. I expected you to be as bad as you were, but I had to let you see for yourself how bad. That way you'd be more determined to get it right."

Suddenly, the titans jiggle went off and Raven answered her communicator. She didn't have to relate anything because Cyborgs voice was as loud as ever.

"Yo, yall beta get cha butts ova here. We got a problem."

She gave a quick nod and hung up

"Rae." Robin said, his leader face on.

Raven gave another nod, this time towards him and created a black disk for him to stand on. Quickly the three of the flew the few blocks to the tower.

"Dude!" was the first thing they heard when they entered "What happened to your hair."

Robin looked from Beast Boy to Starfire and Raven. All three of their hair was a mess. Robins the most.

"Problem?" Robin asked.

Blue Jay wordlessly pointed out the window. A small dot of light seemed to be heading there way, but it was too small for Robin to see what exactly it was.

"It's a missile." Cyborg said, typing furiously on the computer. He brought up a zoomed in picture on the screen. "I cant locate the base."

"Cant you deactivate it?" Robin asked

Cyborg snorted "Not unless I jump on the thing and ride it like a pony. And even then, the chances that people _still _make missiles so easy to stop will be slim."

"Whats the damage radius?" Raven asked

"0." Cyborg answered "I know that type of missile. It only hits and blows it's target. No destroyed town or anything. Its not that powerful."

"Well, if you know the thingy than how do we stop it?" Beast Boy asked.

"You cant," Cyborg said "It's headed for the tower and I cant stop it." He wiped a single tear.

"Oh that's nice," Beast Boys said calmly "Then I think I'll just go wait down the street!" he said, less calmly.

"Guys, I cant just leave this place." Cyborg said "I got stuff in here I need. Stuff that keeps me alive. If the tower goes, then I do too."

Beast Boy made a dramatic jump and landed at the TV's Xbox.

"I'll never leave you, my love. I'm sorry I tried." he said, hugging all his games individually.

"Raven, can't you put up a shield?" Blue Jay asked.

She wrapped a bit of dark energy around Starfire and Robin and hauled them to the kitchen and out of ear shot.

"I can stop that." she said simply. "It's too powerful."

"Surely there is something to be done." Starfire said, almost in tears "We cannot abandon friend Cyborg."

Robin nodded in agreement with her.

"_I _cant stop it, but the two of you might be able to."

Robin snapped his head at Raven so hard you could almost _hear _the whiplash.

"We cant do this. We dont know how." he objected.

"But you _have _to." she countered "My field isn't strong enough, you two's is. You gotta try for Cyborg...and Beast Boy."

"Raven I cant." he said, changing 'we' to a 'I'.

"You have to."

"I wont have a single clue as to what to do. _You _have to try."

"I know the extent of my powers, Robin." Raven said "Just remember what you did the last time. You knew you were in danger, like now, you knew you had to protect yourself and Starfire, like now, and you knew that if you didn't you'd die, LIKE NOW!"

She took a calming breath, but didn't make herself seem calmer.

"Guys!" came a anonymous cry from the three guys that was left in the living room.

Raven, Starfire, and Robin rushed into the common just in time to see the missile rupture the front window.

* * *

><p>AN: CLIFF HANGER! Ohhhh, whats gonna happen. Will Robin learn to fly? Will Starfire learn to fight like a true martial artist? Will Raven stop hating Starfire? Will they all die in an explosion? I dont know. Well, actually, I do. BUT I AIN'T TELLIN NO ONE!

Enjoy!

**_Read and Review_**!


	7. Because We're Better Together

Ello, duckies! I return to you!  
>I'm not gonna make this long, but just wanted to say *sniff sniff* why aren't you reviewing me? *sniff*<br>I thought i was special!  
>Anyway, sorry this took so long to finish, had <em>A LOT <em>of school work to finish; and I'm still not done, i just figured this was way more fun!

Disclaimer: Anyway, u guys know i dont own anything so I dont even know why this little disclaimer is necessarily.

* * *

><p>A Test Of Faith<p>

-TT-

Raven closed her eyes tight when she heard the glass shattering. This was it. This was how it ended. In a room surrounded by friends who cared about her (one in which she didn't care back to, as much as she tried to tell herself that the person had done nothing wrong to her) and a crush she'd liked since they had first met.

A enormous force, seemingly some hard surface, pushed her far back across the room. She hit her back on the island and fell to the ground. Less worried about the pain in her back, she was more concerned about the loud explosion, though muffled, sounding off around her. Yet, she felt no fire, no heat, none of the _actual _explosion.

She figured that she, unfortunately, must've subconsciously protected herself. By this time though, her friends were probably long gone and were a lost cause to try and save. She'd look around to check, but her body refused to allow her to open her eyes.

Within a few more seconds, all sounds ceased. Still afraid to open her eyes, she pinched her arm, making sure she was okay and alive. The only difference in anything was the temperature. Within the last 3 or 4 seconds, the temperature felt as if it had sky rocketed. She began to sweat profusely. Although extremely gross, it was the least of her problems.

Using all the will power she had, she cracked open her right eye. A drop of sweat from her forehead slipped into her eye, stinging with it's salty liquid. She rubbed it wearily, but fully opened both her eyes just in time to see a white shield fall.

Immediately, a cold breeze from the outside blew in, drying the sweat on her. Her spirits rose a little. The shield had been up. Robin and Starfire had done it, but how much were they able to protect?

Raven knew shields, and holding one up in immense heat was hard. It took extreme concentration and control to be able to focus on trying to make sure none of the heat seeped through, because when hers was up in high temperatures, heat normally seeped through. Her shields always ended up burning or something. Two people like Robin and Starfire weren't experienced enough to know this and neither had the ability to focus on something such as a shield when a missile was about to blow them up. They had no clue how to even make one. Yet they did, she reminded herself. Even if it were just her and them left, they save someone.

Pulling her cloak tighter around herself to hide from the frigid wind that was blowing in, she looked for signs of her friends. There were no signs of where the window was besides the glass that was all over the floor. Where the windows _was _was now just a gaping hole looking out towards the city.

After hearing a groan, she wiped around. Everything was clouded and foggy from the fallen ceiling and the destruction, but after seeing an arm move beneath a chunk of fallen debris, she could care less.

She used her powers to lift up whatever was laying on the arm. She blew out a breath of relief when she saw that it was green.

Beast Boy sat up when all of the weight was off him. He coughed a bit from all the smoke and dust but besides that, he felt completely fine, and a little sore. Looking up, he realized that it was Raven who had helped him. She held out a hand to him which he tentatively accepted. She gave a pull and helped him stand up.

"You okay, Rae?" he asked, despite the fact that she seemed completely fine.

"I'm fine. You?" he nodded his head and shivered, noticing the entire wall was gone.

He noticed that Raven was now lifting debris with her powers and searching around. Catching on, he turned into a hound dog and began sniffing around. If he and Raven were okay, then the rest of the team _had _to be.

He knew the teams scent better than anyone else's. He could always smell them before he saw them. Even Robin and Blue Jay had different smells, although it sometimes took him a minute to determine which one was which.

Picking up on a familiar one, he quickly turned into a honey badger and lifted up a piece of wood where the smell was the strongest. After changing into a bear and removing a large piece of granite that had been blown off the island, he found Cyborg.

His eyes were open, but he only seemed to be dazed. Besides a few scratches and a dent in his chest armor from the granite, he seemed completely fine.

"Cy?" Beast Boy asked, poking the human part of Cyborgs arm. "Hey, Cyborg?"

He turned his head towards Raven when he heard coughing, only to fine that Blue Jay was the cause. He was sitting up, seemingly fine. Turning his attention back to Cyborg, he poked him again.

"Man," came Cyborg's voice "If you dont quite pokin' me imma take ya tiny green butt and toss it in garbage disposer."

Despite being warned not to touch, Beast Boy couldn't help but give Cyborg a large hug.

"Dude!" he screamed.

Cyborg returned it, but less touchy as Beast Boy had been.

"Help me up, man." he said as Beast Boy transformed into a elephant and let Cyborg grab his trunk. "Yall know it's gonna take a little more than a toy missile to take me out."

The floor cracked and gave in under Beast Boy in elephant form. He quickly turned into a humming bird to avoid falling to his death.

"Yo!" Cyborg screamed "Did chu just break my floor?"

"There are hole everywhere!" Beast Boy returned, back in his human form. "Why does this one matter?"

Before they could get any further in the conversation Blue Jay split them apart.

"There are still two missing." he said in a low voice.

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy shut up at his tone. Everyone knew not to mess with Blue Jay when it came to his brother and vise versa. Robin was just as protective when it came to Starfire as well and she vise versa. It all made Beast Boy's head hurt when he thought about it too much. Robin was protective of Blue Jay and Blue Jay him, but Starfire was also protective of Robin and him her, but then Starfire was protective of everyone, including Beast Boy himself.

Shaking his head at the confusion, he continued to sniff around. The scents he was looking for was everywhere. He just had to find where it was the strongest and follow that. That would lead him to where they were last and eventually the bodies. No, not bodies he thought. That just sounded like he already expected them to be dead. The smell would lead him to his friends. Yes, that was better.

"Found my brother." Blue Jay said through grit teeth. He was trying to get a piece of the couch that had been blown across the room off of his unconscious brother.

Beast Boy turned into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and removed the couch for him, quickly turning back into a human before the floor broke again.

"Don't touch him." Raven snapped, letting a piece of debris fall to the ground and out of her powers.

Blue Jay tilted his head at her, clearly confused.

"Here's Star," Cyborg said, only a foot or so away from where Blue Jay was standing next to his brother.

"Don't touch her either." Raven said.

"Why not Rae," Beast Boy asked "I can see there breathing. They're alive and okay, just like us."

He placed a hand on Robin arm, just to prove his point, but after a second or two he jumped back screaming and holding his hand.

Raven grabbed him by his arm and made him stay still. She wasn't surprised when she found that he had a 2nd degree burn.

"I told you." she said plainly and began healing him, as Blue Jay and Cyborg came to see. "They are remotely connected to the shield."

"You mean the one you told us about earlier and all that stuff about the presence and stuff?" Beast Boy asked.

"Why didn't _they _tell us again?" Blue Jay asked.

"I told you." Raven said, finishing healing Beast Boy "They were meditating. Anyway, they are loosely connected to the shield. When the fire from the explosion hit the shield it heated their skin as well, but when the shield is up their skin is as safe and strong as the actual shield. They weren't experienced enough to know how to keep the heat from getting through the shield. That's why the place is a mess now. They _could _of protected the entire tower, but neither are strong enough yet. In time, though, they'll be able to hold a stronger shield for longer. I think-"

She was cut off by a shake the tower gave. I lurched from under their feet and the four of them fell onto their butts.

"The tower's not safe." Blue Jay said, looking as a fresh layer of dust fall from the ceiling.

"Well we cant have that now can we?" Cyborg said, standing up. "BB and I got this. You two help Rob and Star."

He dragged a protesting Beast Boy out the common room to make sure the foundation and supports weren't too damaged.

Blue Jay shook his head and stood, helping Raven up as well. Making his way over to his brother and Starfire, he noticed that both were awake and was leaning heavily into a burned up trashcan. A grotty smell was emanating from the area, proving that they weren't leaning in the trash for nothing. He tried to ignore the retching sound of their combined vomiting with every being in him.

"Why are they sick?" he asked Raven.

She shrugged "Too much power exertion."

When they finally pulled their heads out the trashcan they were hot and sweaty. Blue Jay laid a careful, glove-less hand on Robins arm. He pulled it back out of caution but laid it on his arm again when he found that it was warm, but not hot. He helped them into a sitting position and went to check to see if the water was still running.

At first black, murky, water came from the faucet but it eventually cleared out, allowing clean water to flow. After a simple test to make sure the water was indeed clean, he pulled to cups from the cabinets that had no doors on them and filled the cups.

When he turned around, he found that Raven was using her powers trying to keep the two from falling onto their backs. Blue Jay handed Raven one of the cups and sat on the floor next to Starfire, where he had to help her drink her water.

"They'll get their strength back." Raven said, trying to get Robin to hold his arms up long enough to drink for himself "Their just a little tired."

"How long will it take for them to get back to normal?" Blue Jay asked.

Raven shrugged. "Because they share one anothers abilities now, they may need to recover as Robin would need, with lots of rest, or like Starfire would need, with sunlight. I doubt they'll need both, though. But since it's been rainy lately and not much sun has been out, it may take longer than usual."

Blue Jay nodded, though he knew she was probably to busy holding the cup for Robin to notice.

"We need to get them out of the cold." Blue Jay said, noticing that Starfire's arms were filled with goosebumps and her forehead was still slick with sweat. "They'll be sick."

"No," Raven said, standing up "_You_ need to get them out the cold."

"Where are _you_ going?" Blue Jay asked, watching her make her way over the ruins and towards the common room door.

"I have something I need to do." she said simply.

"And what am I supposed to?" Blue Jay asked, annoyed that Raven was leaving him with both Robin _and _Starfire.

"I dont know." Raven answered "Give them a bath or something. They're a mess."

"A bath?" Blue Jay screamed. "_Raven._ Starfire's a _girl. _I cant give her a bath. That's totally _wrong. _Besides, I dont give my brother a bath."

Raven decided she wasn't going to justify his outburst with a response. So she walked to the door, careful when it fell down instead of swish open and made her way to her room. She had some thinking and meditating she was long overdue for.

Blue Jay sat for a moment, staring at the fallen door. They _did _smell horribly like whatever they had just vomited. And some of it _was _in Starfire's hair. They _were_ still wearing those burnt up clothes. And, they _did _have dust and dirt all over them. But how would he get them up the stairs since there was no elevator? And then what, just put them in the shower with their clothes on? He surely wasn't stripping them down and changing them. He may have considered it if was only his brother. They _were _twins. Anything Robin had, Blue Jay was sure to have as well. But...Starfire was a girl. A very _very _beautiful girl that he just happened to have a small crush on. He knew it would be an _entire_ evasion of her privacy, but at the same time, she was always so open about everything. Would she mind? He wasn't sure if he was skittish or if he felt as if the temptation would be to much, but either way, she needed to be cleaned and Beast Boy nor Cyborg and especially not Raven was willing to do it.

He picked up Robin and carried him into the hallway then went back for Starfire. Deciding he'd take Starfire up first, he at least wanted to get his brother out the direct line of the wind.

He opened up the stair doors and looked up the many flights. He had to pass a lot of floors to get to Star and Robins level, and he had to do it _twice. _Breathing out a heavy sigh, he began climbing the stairs.

-ATOF-

Cyborg finally let go of Beast Boy's collar as he got to the basement. The boy squirmed, but didn't leave. The lights weren't working and Cyborg knew BB well enough to know that his best friend wouldn't leave him in a cold, _dark_ basement alone.

"It's colder down here than it is upstairs." Beast Boy said, turning into a polar bear for warmth.

"It's called convection." Cyborg said, flipping on his shoulder light "You know. Hot air rises, cold air sinks."

Before Beast Boy could answer a loud clang sounded behind him. Turning into a possum, he looked around with his night vision, ready to make fun of whatever Cyborg dropped.

"Man, will you just stop touchin' stuff and look for any cracks or something."

Beast Boy turned back into a human.

"Dude, I didn't touch anything. I thought you did."

Beast Boy saw Cyborgs light turn towards him.

"What do you mean you didn't touch anything. Things dont just fall on their own."

"I know. I'm just saying, it wasn't me who made it."

"You know what im thinking?" Cyborg said, readying his sonic cannon.

"Yup." Beast Boy said "RUN!"

He turned into a cheetah, ready to make a dash for the stairs, but Cyborg grabbed him by the scruff of his neck before he could take one step.

"Naw man, something aint right here."

"Your tellin me!" Beast Boy screamed "What isn't right is the fact that were _still _down here, when we _should_ be _up _stairs."

Cyborg dropped Beast Boy as he flipped his arm open and began a search for life forms in the tower. Beast Boy turned into a raccoon, still looking for the source of the _clank. _Looking towards the stairs, he realized that a tool box had fallen.

"Hey, its just a toolbox." Beast Boy said, back as a human again.

Cyborg shinned his light towards the stairs.

"We must of bumped it or something when we came down the steps." Said Beast Boy, relieved that it wasn't something too serious.

Continuing his previous search for cracks, Beast Boy ignored when Cyborg's arm began beeping.

"Um...BB?" Cyborg asked, his voice cracking a bit.

"Yeah dude?"

Before Cyborg could continue, the basement lights came on, burning both BB's and Cyborgs eyes.

"Well, at least-" Cyborg stopped short.

Apparently, the two weren't alone. Not by a long shot. All around him where teens, it seemed. Not that he was sure. Each kid had a hoodie on with the hood up, effectively hiding their faces, minus their lips, that each seemed to be smirking at him. They all had on the same color skinny jeans, but the hoodies were all different colors.

"Hey, yall." Cyborg said, a drop of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Where is the Tameranian and the one called Robin." spoke a female.

Cyborg searched for the person who spoke, but there were so many kids he couldn't tell which one it was. And then there was the hood down thing, and the fact that they all looked like boys to him.

Suddenly it sounded as if a million clicks sounded off at the same time and before Cyborg or Beast Boy knew it, all the kids had guns pointed at them.

Beast Boy scoffed at them.

"Come on dudes. Guns? Robin drills us in on how to avoid being shot almost every _day. _Besides, I doubt either of you can shoot a lady bug."

Beast Boy tuned into a small lady bug and flew a circle around Cyborg's head.

One of the teens stepped forward, his creepy smirk never leaving his face. He took the small black gun that was previously pointed at Beast Boy and aimed it at the ground. He never turned his head away from Beast Boy or Cyborg as he clicked the safety of the gun. The rest of the teens seemed to subconsciously take a small step back. Cyborg was on the verge of saying something when a loud _bang _was heard. It seemed to shake the tower almost as much as the explosion did.

-ATOF-

Blue Jay set Robin in the shower next to Starfire. He was out of breath from carrying the two, but he had done it. Apparently, they didn't like being separated. So he had to leap frog with them, taking one up some stairs and going back for the other. But, he had no doubt in his mind that the two would do the same for him.

He made them sit cross legged, so they didn't take up as much room. Both Starfire and Robin was able to sit up on their own now, but they both wobbled back and forth a bit, and the kept their arms wrapped around themselves with their heads down making their dirty hair cascade in front of their faces.

Blue Jay turned the hot water on full blasts, but flinched when he realized that he hadn't allowed it warm up. Both Robin and Starfire seemed to fold into themselves even more than they had already been when the cold water began to drench them and their clothes. He started to turn off the water and allow it to heat up, but steam was already starting to build up and he figure it would be warm soon enough anyway.

Blue Jay sat on the floor, leaning against the vanity. His hair was starting to get weighed down, but the steam helped loosen his tensed muscles and the warmth was welcome after being so cold in the common room. His mind played many replays of what had happened a little over 20 minutes ago. The whole situation was getting more real everyday.

Someone was _seriously _after Starfire and his brother, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why or who. Someone who _obviously _wanted them dead. The last attempts on them had been pretty lame, though. Fire, trashed room, elevator crashes, weird kisses that resulted in some presence that Raven did a horrible job explaining. All of the scenarios, while still very deadly, weren't anything neither Starfire nor Robin couldn't handle. But maybe that was the point. Maybe this was a test, or a way for the two to learn something. Or maybe they were falling into a trap.

Blue Jay tried to think. What was something they had learned after every incident? Shaking his head, he decided to think about it another time. For now he'd just revel in the fact that he wasn't dead. The thought that his brother had powers now was still new to him, but he decided he'd think about that later, too.

Once he figured they had been in the shower long enough, he rolled up his sleeved and squirted Starfire's shampoo into his hand. He couldn't help but think that this was going to be fun. Running his hands through her beautiful red locks was nothing short of something he had only dreamed about. And better yet, he was doing it _next_ to his brother...and he had an excuse!

Her hair was just getting lathery when a loud explosion seemed to shake the tower. Quickly rinsing out the suds and soap, Blue Jay turned off the shower. He cracked open the bathroom door and poked his head out. Nothing was wrong as far as he could see, but he took out his communicator just to be sure. He called Cyborg first. When he didn't answer, he called Raven and then Beast Boy, but none where answering.

He looked back at Starfire and Robin, who were beginning to shake again from the lack of warm water.

-ATOF-

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Raven whispered to herself. She was currently floating in the void of space, or at least in her mind. Rock formations floated all around her and she was currently sitting on one with a odd tree on it. This was her happy place. Her place to be peaceful and unbothered. A place for her to clear her mind. She figured this was the only place she had left, now that Robin and Starfire knew about her hidden paradise. They'd probably be in there more than she was and-

She was rudely pulled from her mind, her vision breaking and falling away like shattered glass. She was thrust into her dark room and fell onto her bed with a small bounce. Something big and loud had just rocked the tower tremendously. Though previous accounts would prove wrong, the tower was actually very sturdy. It took a lot of force to move it, especially like it had just been rocked.

Curious of what the noise and shaking was all about she spread her mind out and searched for her friends.

Starfire and Robins mind were the first she searched for. Oddly, they seemed in sync with each other. They weren't thinking anything particular, if anything at all. It almost seemed as if they were in a trance. One much like the one she went into to heal herself. If wouldn't surprise her if they were in a trance, trying to gain back some of the energy they had lost.

The closest to them was Blue Jay. He seemed to be oddly curious about something and yet he had a worry that was increasingly growing. Whatever he was doing was beginning to feel urgent to him.

It took a bit longer, but she finally found Beast Boys mind. It seemed completely blown away, as if something incredible had just happened. His body seemed still, but more from fright than anything.

_Raven, is that you?_

Raven jumped up, scared. A pillow behind her blew up and she took a calming breath, ignoring the feathers that floated down all around her.

_Beast Boy?_

She didn't know he knew when she was in his mind. It was a bit embarrassing, but at the same time she was surprised at how easy he seemed to keep his focus long enough to speak to her.

_Rae, can you hear me? _He asked

_Yes, Beast Boy I can hear you. Whats going on?_

_Raven, listen to me. You have to get Starfire and Robin out of the tower._

_Beast Boy, whats going on?_

_Trust me Rae, get them out, and then you get out._

_Beast Boy, **whats going on?**_

_You know that guy who broke in? Yeah, he has friends with **really **weird guns._

_I'm coming to get you and Cyborg. Try and stall for time, I have to tell Blue Jay first._

She didn't give Beast Boy enough time to answer before she flew out her door and into the stair case. Flying at top speed, it didn't take her very long to get to Starfire and Robins level. She flew straight down the hall and typed in the override code and rushed into the bathroom.

She knew she had scared Blue Jay by the way he slipped on the soaking wet rug that Starfire and Robin were standing on. He had a towel in his hand and was trying to dry Starfire's hair.

"Oh, thank gosh your here." he breathed "I have no idea what to do with her hair. If you haven't noticed, my hair isn't that long." he shook his wet hair for emphasis.

"Look." Raven said trying to pull Robin out the door. "We have to get them out of here. Someones _here _is trying to get them. Move ROBIN!"

It was almost comical watching Raven attempt to pull Robin out the door. Obviously she had underestimated his strength because he didn't even seem to be putting up much effort. It was when Raven began to use her powers did he really begin to freak. He dug his heels into the ground, determined not to move.

"Raven stop-" Blue Jay said, moving Starfire up besides Robin "They dont like to be separated."

"_I. Don't. Care._" Raven said, putting Robin in a black bubble.

"Rae, listen to me." Blue Jay said, "I dont know, but when their in this trance, they can, like, do stuff. Your going to get hurt if you dont let them be."

Raven rolled her eyes. _Puh-lease_.

She made her way down the hallway, with Robin in tact. But she didn't get 2 feet before she felt her hold on him dwindle. Turning around, she realized that the bubble Robin was in had a tiny white crack in it. Steadily, the tiny crack multiplied and soon her black orb had vanished completely.

She dropped to her knees as her concentration and power hold broke. She looked up at Robin, through his mask she could see that his eyes were glowing a neon green, just as Starfire's did. He didn't attack her any further though, not that he did the first time. He was only trying to get free. He spun on his heels and walked back towards the bathroom, where Blue Jay was pushing a still soaking wet Starfire.

"Told you not to separate them." he said, as he watched Starfire grab Robin hand.

"I dont have time for this." Raven said, pushing the three of the down the hall, careful to make sure two were together. "I'll meet you at the Jump City park, okay? First I gotta rescue Cyborg and Beast Boy."

"Rescue?" Blue Jay asked "I'm not gonna play babysitter while you go and risk your life. If your going, im going."

"Don't be stupid." she countered "I know how to get them in and out without putting up any fight."

"You'll need backup then."

"No I won't. I need you to make sure the two of them are safe."

She put the three of them on a black disk and made a portal to get them through the wall and down to the ground. "Take the T-Car."

With that, she sent the three of them though the wall and down to the ground.

Blue Jay wasted no time in getting Robin and Starfire to the garage. He had to be quick, luckily though, as long as Starfire and Robin were at least close, they moved as fast as he wanted them to. He nervously made his way to the garage. It was just above the basement, where all action was apparently happening.

He wondered if they were fighting, wishing he was there to assist them. He supposed not. Raven did say she wanted to get in and out without a fight.

Grabbing the keys off the shelf and getting Robin and Starfire in the car, he put the keys into the ignition. That's when he realized something. He didn't know how to drive. A motorcycle, sure, but a car was completely different. He had been driven around his whole life, and now he was just about shoved into a car with no real knowledge of how to drive it. _Where was the throttle?_

Oh, why didn't he pay attention whenever Cyborg drove? Or Alfred? Or Bruce? Now here he was, completely clueless. But, how hard could it be, right? Really all he needed to know was brakes and gas. Go and stop. Simple.

He turned the keys and took the car out of park. That much was easy. Mirrors are adjusted, seat belts are on. Well, his is. He didn't have time to put Starfire's or Robins on. Blue Jay eased his foot onto the gas. It lurched forwards, nearly giving him a heart attack. _Slowly. Slowly. _He reminded himself. Who knows what Cyborg had installed into the car. He'd just make sure not to say things like 'bomb' and 'shoot' aloud.

Easing his foot down again, the car gradually drifted forward. Gaining a bit of confidence, he pushed down a bit harder, he _was _kinda in a rush. He was comfortable at 25 by time he reached the end of the underground tunnel.

As comfortable as he felt driving, he still had a nagging feeling that he had abandoned his friends. Left them for dead. Skipped out and made a getaway. He shook his head. No, he _wanted _to stay but Raven _made _him go. She said he was more needed here. He stole a glance in the rear view mirror. So far everything seemed normal. The tower was still standing, though barely. Holes were everywhere, especially the kitchen area. Smoke and debris was still coming out, falling onto the sand or getting lost in the wind.

But for the _most _part, everything was okay. Tower was still standing. There were still lights on. Starfire and Robin were making out. It wasn't raining. Raven was going to get Beast Boy and-

Blue Jay swerved on the road as he looked in the rear view mirror again. Sure enough, Starfire and Robin were _seriously _attacking each others faces. Really, their first kiss in a car? That hardly seemed like a Robin thing and even less like a Dick thing. He'd never admit it to anyone, but Dick was a serious romantic. If anything, he'd want his first kiss with the prettiest girl on the planet to be romantic, not in the back of a car with his younger twin brother driving (though just barely).

Robin ran his hand through Starfire's hair. He couldn't think, couldn't breath, couldn't do anything. His mind was only filled with _her. _He needed her. Needed to be closer to her. The closer he was, the better he felt. It felt as if his lips were trading energy with hers. He felt stronger and better after every second.

He leaned back, spreading out on the chair and pulling her with him. He needed to be even _closer. _He needed to get his own clear mind back. Right now, it was just a jumble. But somehow he knew, the more of her he had, the better he would feel. And he knew a _really _good way to get closer. If the stupid car would stop swerving so much, he'd probably be as close as he could with her already.

Besides the fact that he was clearly aroused at the moment and his sweat pants felt a size too small, he was completely content with having Starfire pressed down on him. It only edged him on further. He looped his fingers on the elastic band of her sweat pants, ready to have his way with her, but she obviously had different plans.

She grabbed his hand that had previously been in her hair and placed it roughly on her own chest. If Robin would have been thinking straight, he would have ignored her privation for intimate playtime, but the way her large breast felt in his hand was far to amazing to remember he wanted to make love to her at that moment.

She detached her lips from his and began kissing along his jaw and down to his neck. He stretched his neck out for her and for a moment, he fell prisoner to her. Allowing her to touch wherever and do whatever while he sat and enjoyed it. She licked his adams apple and blew softly, tickling him. And in return he turned her head with his and nibbled on her ear, blowing on it slowly.

Remembering that he wanted to have his way with her, and not the other way around, he pulled her closer to him with one hand and began pulling her pants down with the other. He _was _going to be in control. She was _his _prisoner, but the thought vanished quickly when she began running her hands under his shirt and along his chest. Their was something extremely soothing about the way she purposefully brushed her hands over his nipples and kissed them over his shirt.

Once again, he was her prisoner and she had the control. But he didn't mind... for the moment. She pulled his shirt upwards and he lifted his arms for her.

Blue Jay reached his hand back and began hitting Robins leg, which was the only thing he could reach.

"Cut it out you two." he said, trying to focus on both the old lady crossing the street and the fact that his brother was making out with his crush.

He swerved again when something fell in front of his face. He was sure that someone was going to call the police on him, thinking he was some drunk driver. And without a license? Yeah, right. He'd be thrown in jail or something. Removing whatever fell on his head, he swerved yet again, realizing that it was his brothers shirt. He was only about a block from the said park, so he decided to just walk the rest. This way he didn't cause attention to the park anyway.

He pulled over and quickly got out the car, he rushed around and opened the back door, a bit afraid of what he would find. But he was only met with what appeared to be a sleeping Robin and Starfire. She was laying on top of a shirt-less Robin, but besides that, they were both fully clothed. He blew out a breath of relief when Robin began to arouse.

He ran a hand through his hair and yawned, like he would if he were just waking up. His face squished up when he realized that there was extra weight on him. Blue Jay quickly grabbed Starfire, trying to save his brother from passing out once he realized he was under her shirtless. Yet, he did realize and the surprised look Robin gave him was priceless.

Blue Jay couldn't help but smile and shrug. Apparently, Robin didn't remember anything about what had happened. Blue Jay'd fill him in on that later. Holding Starfire in his arms, he threw Robin his shirt and allowed him to get out the car.

He relayed a quick update of what was going on to Robin, leaving out the making out on purpose.

"We have to go back and help." Robin said, pulling on the parks gate chain to see if it would budge. When it didn't he began to climb it.

"Thats what I said." Blue Jay said, passing a still knocked out Starfire over the gate and to Robin "But Raven was pretty set on making me feel useless." He quickly climbed the gate and landed on the other side besides his brother.

"You let _Raven _force you to leave?" Robin asked, still holding Starfire and subconsciously making his way to the swings.

"I really didn't have a choice when she forced me through the wall. Besides, you were pretty besides yourself. I _do _agree with her that you needed super vision."

"Yeah, right." Robin laughed "Like im some baby who needs a sitter."

"Really, Rob. You were completely out of it."

"Ok, _suuure _I was."

"You were."

"Whatever you say."

Blue Jay stood up on the swings, swinging back and forth lazily. The swings squeaked loudly, but he hardly noticed. It was the closest thing he had gotten to being on a trapeze in a long while. Taking his communicator out, he handed it to Robin, figuring he'd probably want and try to contact the team. Just as he suspected, Robin flipped it open trying to contact one of the team, only to find that they wouldn't answer.

"Their not going to answer you." Blue Jay said, moving his legs and swinging higher "Or, me I guess. Since they think that's my communicator."

"I feel stupid sitting in this park waiting while their back in the _unsafe _tower defending for their lives."

"You know their more than capable of taking care of themselves." Blue Jay said, not even looking at his brother. He was reveling in way the cold wind pushed against his face like it always did when he jumped roofs.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean, and as a leader I ought to be ashamed, that I should feel good about this."

"Your still not giving them enough credit. You've taught them how to defend themselves. It's what training is for, right?"

"Would you sit down!" Robin practically screamed "Thats squeaking is getting on my nerves."

By this time, Blue Jay was just about horizontal, but he jumped off nonetheless. Sometimes he really thought his brother needed to loosen up. When was the last time _he _had fun while they were out? This was one of the main reasons he backed off when it came to Starfire. He believed, and still did, that her carefree way of life would effect him enough to stop him from being such a grouch. To remind him of how they use to play as kids. Playing pranks and not caring.

"Well," he said, sitting back on the swings "If your so worried...then find them."

"What do mean _find them? _What, just go back and look around? No way, I could blow their cover."

"No, not literally. You have telekinesis now, right? Raven'd be able to do it. So why cant you? Search for their minds or something."

"Pass. I'd like to die a different way, another day, thanks."

"Oh come on you scared-y baby. Do it."

"No. Raven said that-"

"Why is it that Raven seems to want to control everyone's life nowadays? Come on, she doesn't control you."

"No, she doesn't. I'm doing this by choice. I've seen Ravens powers get out of control. Who's to say mine wont?"

"I dont know. I'm just suggesting is all."

Robin began to bite his finger nail, and Blue Jay knew that he was thinking it over. No doubt counting the pros and cons of his choice. And _this _was why he needed to loosen up. Be spontaneous for once in his life and stop over-analyzing everything.

He payed no attention when Starfire woke up and got out his lap. Or when she waved a hand in his face. Or when she fell off the swings, not knowing that they moved. But the moment he decided to give using telekinesis a try he focused back in on the world. He probably heard each flap of a birds wing. The snore of the man across the street. The petals of a flower hitting the ground. Yeah, he was that tuned in on his surroundings. Although the the flower petals thing may have been a bit of a stretch.

The moment Robin sat down in the grass cross legged he realized that he could have been moments from blowing the world up. Of freezing it. Or melting it. Or just plain destroying it. But as a leader, wasn't it his job to take risks to make sure his team was safe? He wouldn't be a good leader if he neglected them, right?

Deciding to just wing it, he closed his eyes. Clearing his mind, he came to to halting realization that he had no idea what he was doing. Was he supposed to focus or have a blank mind? Should he think really hard on who he was searching for or should he just let his mind do whatever?

He deciding to just try and think hard about Beast Boy, he seemed to have the simplest mind that was easy to penetrate, whereas Raven could have some kind of death mind shields up. He wasn't even sure if Cyborgs mind was penetratable. So he just supposed that Beast Boy was his best bet.

He tried as hard as he could to open his mind up, which was hard for him considering he liked to keep it closed and locked in case Raven was nearby and accidentally read his mind or something.

A loud rushing sound filled his mind and it took a moment for him to realize that the rushing sound was actually peoples voices. They were each totally disconnected from each other, but if he focused enough, he could hear a entire one-sided conversation. He figured that once he got better at his telekinetic abilities, he'd be able to find his friends quickly and drown out the other voices.

The thought of tofu passed by and Robin did his best to hold onto to it. There was only one person he knew who thought about tofu and that was Beast Boy. He focused in on the voice hoping it would be Beast Boy and would give him some intel on what was happening. But the more he listened to the voice the less he believed it to be the changeling. Unless, Beast Boy thought about his 'handsome' prom date and what color he was going to paint his nails.

He waved the thought off, figuring it was some over-hyper girl trying to think about the prom and her own looks. He continued to search, but after listening to a few more one-sided conversations, he was starting to get discouraged.

-ATOF-

The moment she heard the T-Car start up, Raven summoned her black Raven and disappeared through the floor. She went through the Ops room, the monitor room, the gym ,evidence room, crime lab, infirmary, the lobby, and finally stopped in the garage, right above the basement all in less than 20 seconds.

_Who said she needed a elevator?_

She poked her head through the floor, hoping no one was looking up.

She blinked a few times in the bright light and immediately spotted, and heard, Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o!" they sang.

She _did _tell Beast Boy to buy her some time. Right in front of Beast Boy was a crater sized hole. She figured this was what caused the tower shaking movement. As they started another verse, she looked around them. They each seemed young, but to check, she closed her eyes to try and enter one of their minds. She reached out to one of the boys and carefully prodded at his mind, but the moment she began to enter, one of the kids head whipped up at her. Once he turned his head, the others followed suite.

They turned their small guns, the ones that were apparently really 'weird' as Beast Boy put it, to her.

She sensed the anticipation from one of the kids. Figuring he was going to fire, she put a shield up in front of her. She _really _hadn't anticipated that the small gun would be so powerful. When it hit her shield, she fell through her own portal, only for Beast Boy to catch her.

He quickly set her down next to him and Cyborg. Raven put up her own black field around the three of them, praying that the didn't shoot before she made another portal to get them out. Unfortunately, they must have picked up on this, because they all opened fire at the same time. She was able to hold the shield for about three hits before it fell on its own accord.

The shooting stopped, but it seemed as if all the teens decided now was a good time to attack. The guns disappeared as fast as they appeared and each teen took a turn jumping into the circle. They all began a attack at once. Throwing punches and kicks at the same time. They were almost too fast for her to predict and counter.

Raven was surprised with all the moving they did, that their hoods never came off. She ducked a punch two teens had thrown at her and stood back up, bringing her foot up with her and kicking the teen in the face. She tried a few more times to get the hoods off at least one teen but they seemed as if they were glued on.

She was about to throw another punch when her own cloak began choking her. She pulled on it but it wouldn't budge. She reached her hand up to try and unclip the clasp around her neck, but reaching up choked her further. She tried to spin around, to get the weight off her neck but was met with a hard hit in her stomach. She bent down involuntarily, choking herself even further. A hit in her face only proved to disorient her.

Suddenly, though, she could breath again and all weight was off her neck. She turned around quickly in time to see a green tiger drop the shredded cloak out it's mouth. Though she was now cloak-less, she felt staggeringly better.

She blocked and punched her way towards Beast Boy and grabbed a bit of his fur. She knew it didn't hurt him, but she also knew it got his attention. She fought her way towards Cyborg, who was trying not to hurt the kids too much, but to also get them off his back. Literally.

With a burst of energy, she was able to get the kids back a foot or so. She quickly put up her shield and made a portal at the bottom.

Raven fell through along with Beast Boy and Cyborg and hit the sidewalk hard. They had landed only a few blocks from the tower, though she had meant for them to get closer to the park.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, rubbing a part on his arm where his uniform had been ripped off. A purple and blue bruise was starting to form, but Raven knew she had to save her energy.

"Man, if I could use my sonic cannon I would..." Cyborg trailed off, hitting his fist in his other hand repeatedly, as if he was pretending his hand was actually connecting with one of the teens faces.

"So, where are the others?" Beast Boy asked.

Instead of answering, she made a black disk under Cyborg and flew into the air. Beast Boy blew out a annoyed breath and turned into a falcon.

-ATOF-

Robin gave up. It was clear he wouldn't be able to find _anyone _he wanted with all those voiced in his head. He just had to trust in his team.

"Our friends are here." Starfire said, pointing to the sky.

_So much for timing._

Standing up out the grass, Robin dusted the grass off himself. Blue Jay hoped of the swings he had previously been on again and made his way over to stand next to Starfire and Robin.

"You guys have NO idea what we just went though." Beast Boy said, turning back into a human. "It was completely epic. But, like, in a bad way."

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed "We just got our butts kicked."

"By who?" Robin and Blue Jay asked unanimously.

Raven shrugged her shoulders. "We dont really know. It was a group of kids in hoodies. I couldn't see their faces even when I tried. But apparently, they were there for you."

Robin was a bit taken back. Besides the fact that he had had a black out moment from the moment he was able to get the shield up, to when he woke up in the car, this was a complete surprise.

"What do you think they wanted with us?" Starfire asked, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth.

"Probably wanted to make you zombies." Beast Boy said, completely serious.

"Or not." Raven countered.

Blue Jay had a quick assessment and gave his cape to Raven. She seemed like she needed it more than Starfire did. Her being in a leotard and everything. She took it and gave him a appreciative nod and wrapped it around herself.

"Yall I think this is getting serious." Cyborg said "I can deal with a trashed room or two, maybe even the blood as long as it aint serious. But a missile and trained army? That's where I start to get skeptical."

"What do you suppose we do?" Blue Jay asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"We call..." Beast Boys said, lowering his voice at least 8 octaves "The Justice League."

"Could you do that?" Raven asked, looking at Robin, who scratched the back of his head.

"Maybe." he said "On a good day I suppose, and if this is really serious."

"I believe this is the 'serious'." Starfire said.

"The league dont normally deal with things like this." Blue Jay said "I guess we could call in as a favor, but the JL mostly deal with intergalactic problems and stuff. You know, world threatening issues."

"What about Batman? We could-" Cyborg stopped short when he saw the looks he was getting from Robin and Blue Jay. But it was already to late. The sentence was out there and Beast Boy seemed to think it was a great idea.

"Yeah!" he screamed, despite it being late "Call the Batman! Call the Batman! He'll take care of this."

"No way." Robin said folding his arms.

"Hate to say this Robin, but Beast Boy and Cyborg are right." Raven said "Thats a good idea. If the Justice League dont deal with things like this, than Batman should. He _is _a detective."

"We dont need Batman," Blue Jay countered "He'd either turn us down or take over the whole thing."

"Good." Cyborg said "I dont want to deal with this. If he'll do it for us, than great."

"I dont want, _or need, _Batman to take care of my problems." Robin snapped "I'm perfectly capable of doing this myself."

"And how far have you gotten, so far?" Raven asked.

"Well..." he started "Now that... I have more clues... I could figure this out."

"Yeah, okay sure." she said sarcastically "I just hope your willing to work after you die. If you could get Starfire started while your at it, that would be great."

"Look man, your right." Cyborg added "you dont need the Batman. But I think Star, should see him anyway."

"Yeah," added Beast Boy "Star should be able to get to Gotham and find the Batman."

"Or if she cant," Raven said "and I think we all know Starfire lacks a sense of direction, she could always ask one of the _hot _boys to help her."

Blue Jay knew what was going on now and he wasn't falling for it. Robin, on the other hand was beginning to growl under his breath at the mention of 'hot guys.'

"Yeah," Beast Boy threw in "Sweet, innocent, Starfire can ask one of the stupid, jerk, boys to show her the way."

"And without her strength I'm sure nothing will happen." Cyborg said, as if the mention was completely normal.

At this point, Robins eyes were beginning to glow green and the swing-set that Blue Jay was on only moments ago burst into a million pieces. Large bits of metal fell from the sky. Beast Boy ran around in a circle, flailing his arms comically, just avoiding a piece of metal before turning into a small green turtle.

"Temper, Robin." Raven warned.

Robin took a deep breath, ignoring the curious look Starfire had been giving him ever since Cyborg and Raven started that stupid 'hot guys' charade. Of course he wasn't going to let her go to _Gotham _alone. He wouldn't have let her go a week ago, when she still had her strength. He looked to his brother, silently asking for his opinion.

Turning back into a human, Beast Boy breathed a breath of relief from avoiding the falling metal. He probably would never get used to the fact that Robin now had powers...and could FLY! How weird would that be? Beast Boy smiled as he realized that he had someone else to catch a ride with. Sometimes Robin was mean and grouchy, but a lot of times (especially around Starfire) he was nice. Much nicer than Raven could be. No doubt, Robin would let Beast Boy catch a ride _sometimes._

Looking back at Robin, he noticed that Robin seemed to be having a whole conversation with Blue Jay without moving his lips. They stared at each other, shrugging and bobbing their heads as if they were talking out loud. He figured it was just a twin thing.

"Alright." Robin said finally "I'll go to Gotham and ask for help...but, you guys have to meet me there."

Beast Boys eyes lit up with sparkles. Meet..The...Batman? _The _Batman? The Dark Night?

_OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!_

"No, way." Blue Jay said "I am _not_ going to Gotham. Besides, do you know what going there would _entitle?" _

Robin knew that Blue Jay meant the part about revealing their secret to the team, but really was that _so _horrible?What if he didn't say _who _they was, just showed them the house? No one here watched the news or anything except maybe Raven. There was no way that they would recognize the mansion, right? But then, they could afterwords. Maybe, he could use his new powers to make them forget or something. Telekinesis was all about brain and mind control. It should be easy-breezy erasing their minds after the whole charade was over. He might even get Raven to show him how.

"Just trust me." he told Blue Jay "I got this."

Trusting his brother, Blue Jay nodded.

A piece of metal suddenly hit Beast Boy on the back of his head. He hopped around holding his head, while Raven asked him to stay still so she could check to see if he was bleeding. Cyborg basically busted a gut laughing.

"Man," he said between breaths "How high did you blast the thing?"

Robin looked up. Truthfully, he didn't know. He doubted that high. Robin looked at back at Beast Boy. He had stopped running in circles and was now a komodo dragon, flicking tongue out rapidly.

"What are you doing BB?" Cyborg asked, his laughing fit over.

"I smell something." Beast Boy said, human again. "I cant remember, but its familiar."

"Could it be those teens we just fought?" Cyborg asked, his voice full of irritation that Beast Boy didn't pick up on.

"Yeah!" he said "Thats exactly right! How'd you know?"

Instead of answering, Cyborg pointed. Everyone followed his gaze down the street. The teens that was once in the basement was now marching down the street in a tight army-like line. Each of their feet hit the ground together, creating a resounded thud.

"I think you should go now." Raven said, turning her head slightly towards Robin.

"Go?" he asked "I'm not going anywhere."

"Stop being stubborn." Blue Jay told him "We can handle things here and buy you some time. You and Starfire head out to Gotham. We'll meet you there."

"We will not abandon you." Starfire said. "We are a team."

"Exactly." Robin added.

"Look yall." Cyborg said "We got things here, but we cant protect yall and buy yall some time if _they _already have you."

"Yeah, dudes." Beast Boy said "We're out in the open now. And I know I can change however I want."

"We can handle this." Raven said. "Now, go."

"So what, we hitchhike?" Robin asked, exasperated.

"Do whatever." Blue Jay said "And get some new clothes. Stay incognito."

Starfire wanted to argue. So bad did she want to stay and help, but her friends were making more sense than she wanted them too. Their efforts would be in vain if she and Robin stayed. Besides, the faster they got to 'Gotham', wherever that was, the faster they could get back home.

She grabbed onto Robins arm, he still looked as if he wasn't going anywhere but to fight. She knew him. He wouldn't leave if the reason was to save himself, but maybe if she reminded him that _she _needed him too, he'd come. He looked down at her hand and then up into her face. She could see how bad he actually wanted to stay. She could _feel _it, and she wasn't sure if that was because they were now 'connected' or because she was just close to him.

He took a step back, followed by another and another. Blue Jay turned around and gave his brother a nod in which Robin returned. It was the closest thing they could get to a hug as time and the current situation allowed. Robin grabbed Starfire's hand and before she knew it, they were both running towards the gate as fast as they could.

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><p>AN: Well, what'd you think? Besides my horrible spelling and typing was it okay? Tell me what cha think.

**_Read and Review_**


	8. Let's Just Run Forever

Hiya!

Yes, It's me. I return. I gotta say, this was a fun chapter. Remember though, this is a AU, so anything out of the ordinary is intended.

We know I own nothing. Is it even necessary that I say this on every chapter?

Anyway, on with the show...story...whatever!

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><p><strong>-A Test of Faith-<strong>

-TT-

The moment Robin and Starfire hit the park gate, they were climbing. As quickly and as fast as they could. Robin was sure that there was an easier way to get out of the park, but at the moment, he didn't care.

He sat on the top of the gate, briefly looking back towards the team. He realized that all the teens were going around the team. They seemed to not even see the team. Instead, they were all running towards the gate that he was currently climbing.

He reached a hand down to Starfire, who grabbed it earnestly and allowed him to pull her up. They both hoped down on the other side together ready to run again, but Starfire was pulled back as a teen had grabbed her hair through the gate. She shrieked, but was already being assisted by Robin.

Together they were able to get her hair free from the teens grasp, but it had cost them time. All along the gate, teens were already halfway through climbing. None seemed to be having the least bit of trouble.

A black shield went up around the teens, forcing them back to the ground. This bought them some time, but not much.

Dick couldn't help but curse at himself. If he knew how to fly better, than they wouldn't be running. Starfire couldn't possibly carry him now, and now she was forced to run with him. Though they were trying to stay under the radar, it was still dark (though soon it would be getting lighter soon). If they stayed out the streetlights than maybe they'd be able to stay out of sight.

Chancing a glance back, he realized that the teens were close. _Really _close. Like one-small-runners-burst-and-we-got-you close. He sped up his own running, pulling Starfire with him.

They made to the city without a problem. The sky was slightly lighter than the nights navy blue, still filled with dwindling stars; determined not to leave until they saw the early morning sun. Making a rash decision, Robin decided to duck into an alley, between two very tall buildings. It seemed to pay off when the sounds of footsteps sounded around them.

Both Robin and Starfire stayed quiet for a few more minutes. Listening to make sure the coast was clear and taking a moment to catch their breaths. Robin looked over to Starfire. She was breathing heavily, but he noticed that her chest rose and fell in sync with his. Figuring this was just some odd way that they were connected, he sat down beside her, placing a hand on her knee.

"Were good for now." He said, hoping to reassure her.

"How far away is Gotham?" she asked.

Scratching his head, Robin thought for a moment. Of course it would take at least a week if they walked. Days if he was going by motorcycle in traffic. And only a few hours if he was speeding and there were no cars or streetlights on the road.

"Not far." He decided on. "But for now, we need to get out of these clothes."

He knew that once he took off his mask, he'd be swamped by paparazzi. He _was _Dick Grayson. Even if he was from Gotham, people were bond to know him. Starfire, he was a little hesitant about. She was a Tameranian. She had nearly orange skin and _very _green eyes. Her hair was a rare shade of red and she was just drop dead gorgeous.

But, she was a superhero, and people always wanted to be like their heroes. People all around the world were getting extreme tans and wearing green contacts. Maybe, with her being out of her uniform, people would just mistake her for copying the real Starfire.

Whether or not that was true, he had to try. But first, he had to find a place to get some clothes. Standing up, he held a hand out to Starfire. She gladly took it. He deciding that since he wasn't wearing his uniform, he'd be safe to take off his mask. He was almost positive no one had seen them enter the alleyway, so no one would suspect that Robin had _mysteriously _turned into Dick Grayson.

"We are Dick and Takori, now?" Starfire asked.

Dick smiled. He absolutely loved the way she said his name. Or nickname rather. It completely made him feel stupid and bubbly inside. Not a way he was used to feeling. But never in a thousand years would he ask the feeling to go away.

"Yeah." he told her "Dick and Takori now."

Dick put his mask in his back pocket and poked his head out the alleyway, looking down the street. So far, not many people was out, and certainly no evil army of teenagers. Only a few business dressed men and men in scrubs walked down the street, either talking on their cell phones or eating a hotdog that probably came from one of the early opened stands.

He subconsciously rubbed his free arm for warmth. While he was running, he was pretty unaffected by the weather, but now that he was calm and relaxed, he was starting to feel the coldness of the air, and the moment he stepped out the alleyway and onto the sidewalk he was met with a cold gust of wind.

He and Starfire made their way, still hiding in shadows, down to the local mall. It was bond to be closed this early in the morning, but he was too far ready to get to Gotham to care about breaking in. It'd probably be easy getting in. Most malls in Jump didn't even have security systems up. Why worry about a break in when you had superhumans protecting you?

Dick quickly looked both ways before he began crossing the street. Hardly anyone was driving through the streets, but a few early people were up, probably on their way to work. He looked towards Starfire, who had been unnaturally quiet for a while. Usually she was buzzing with suggestions or questions or _something._

But Starfire wasn't in the mood for much talking. She was more focused on what it was the rest of the Titans were doing. Had a small group of teens stayed back to fight them? If so, were the teens victorious or was her friends? She would never forgive herself if something happened to one of them. It was basically _her _who had dragged Dick away from them. He had wanted to stay, and for good reason. It seemed as if they would need all the help they could get.

And she had abandoned them.

What kind of friend was she? A horrible one, that's what. She left her friends to fend off _her _problem. She should have never left them. It was a selfish decision she had made. What on earth had possessed her to make the decision to leave?

Fear, perhaps. She _did _remember feeling afraid. Anyone with sense would feel _a little _fear when faced with an army of skilled teens out to probably kill her.

The sound of tires screeching and a thud filled her ears and she whipped her head around just in time to see Dick roll off the hood of a car.

For a moment, she stood there. Trying to register in her head what had just happened. She'd never _actually _seen someone get hit by a car. Only in the movies. But this, this was no movie. She was here, watching Dick lie on his back, unmoving. His right leg was slightly bent and his head was slightly turned away from the car. She could see he was breathing from the way his chest rose and fell, but besides that he was completely still.

A tall, chubby man with a balding head jumped out the car that had hit Dick. He had a business suite on, but the shirt was clearly too small because his round stomach was poking from beneath it. He had also apparently spilled coffee or some other dark liquid on it and he had some kind of cheese stain too. At least, she hoped it was a cheese stain. He seemed to be in his late twenties maybe. She pushed away the thought that this man could _actually _be on his way to work dressed that way.

He got out and ran around to the front of the car, looked down at Dick, and then looked at the front of his red sports car. Takori could tell it was a sports car just by looking at it. The slim way the car was built was also a dead giveaway.

Instead of trying to help Dick, though, or even calling an ambulance, he began screaming.

"My CAR! My beautiful Bugatti Veyron Super Sports Car! My 2,400,000 dollar CAR! It's got a dent it!"

"Are you the insane?" Takori screamed back at him, finally breaking out her trance and rushing towards Dick.

She had no clue what to look for or do to a person who had been hit by a car. Bending down beside him, she realized that his eyes were open. It's nitid color staring unfocused at some off-seen object. The look in his eyes was both reassuring and scary.

"Dick?" she whispered, shaking his shoulders lightly. As far as she could see, there was no large lumps on his head or any blood, but he had to have hit _something _or else the car wouldn't of had a dent in it. The best she'd be able to do is call an ambulance, but she didn't have any 'cellular devises.' And the balding man was still inspecting his car hood, which to the naked eye looked completely normal.

"Do you not wish to help?" she asked irritable, and slightly panicky.

The man seemed to notice her for the first time. Immediately, he pulled his dirty shirt down and brushed back his greasy looking hair. Or what was left of it. He leant casually against his red car and stuck his hands in his pockets. In Takori's opinion, he looked like the guys always did in the movie Greece. They all tried to act cool and collected. Not greasy and dirty like the man was looking.

"Hey." he said in voice that was deeper than what she had heard before, though he was screaming.

Takori couldn't figure out why he was acting this way now, when moments ago he was furious about his car. It was as if he was trying to make a respectable first impression on her. But she had already seen that this man was not the 'helping' type.

"I do not wish to socialize." she snapped at him. Was it not customary to try and help the person you hit?

She looked back at Dick, he blinked once. And then again. It seemed as if his eyes were beginning to focus. He turned his head slowly upwards, from its slightly lolling side and looked her in her eyes. She couldn't help but blush. Here she was in the middle of a street looking the most adorable guy in his bright blue eyes. Who wouldn't blush? She grabbed his hand, knowing he probably wouldn't grab back, but the effort he put in to try and close his hand on hers was admirable.

"Starfire?" he whispered, almost as if he was surprised to see her with him.

She quickly covered his mouth and leant down next to his ear.

"No," she whispered "I am Takori. And you are Dick."

She was in the mist of asking if he was okay when she was jerked off her knees, away from Dick, and into a standing position. For a moment she panicked, thinking one of the teens had found her, but turning around, she realized it was just the dirty balding man. Pissed that he had grabbed her, she tried to snatch her arm from his hand, but he held tight to her arm.

"Release my arm." she said, as she pulled again.

She almost tripped over Dick as the man pulled her away from him and slammed her on door of his red car. He put his arms on both sides of her head, effectively pinning her to the car. She made a quick move to duck under his arm, but he slid his hand down near her hip, once again trapping her.

"This car goes fast." he sneered in her face. "You and I. We could get away and do some dirty things."

Takori couldn't help making a mental list of things she hated about this guy.

For one: he hit Dick, who wasn't in wrong for crossing the street.

Two: The man was _extremely _dirty, and his teeth showed just how much.

Three: Speaking of teeth, his breath reeked. It smelled like whatever was on his shirt and oddly like fried onions and garlic. _Yuck._

Four: his face was entirely too close to hers. Which was one of the reasons she turned her head when he spoke to her.

"I could teach you some kamasutra." he continued, his face even closer than it was before.

She had no idea what kamasutra was, but she certainly didn't want to learn it from this guy. The only thing he even seemed capable of teaching was what life _wasn't _about. She couldn't imagine he had a respectable job dressed like he was.

"I do not wish to go anywhere with you." she said, pushing against him with all her might, but he wouldn't allow her to move from his hand trap. She hadn't realized just how strong the earth boys was. Clearly being a regular female was much more dangerous than she had thought.

She heard Dick groan and looked towards him. The hand she had been holding, before she was rudely pulled away, seemed to be grasping air. It hit her heart when she realized that he was looking for her.

He turned on his side, slowly. Takori wanted to say a chant. To sing. Scream. Anything to get him to keep moving. It eased her heart knowing he would be okay with every movement and breath he took. She felt a hefty urge to be there besides him, helping him. But instead, she was smelling the breath of a deadbeat with greasy hair.

She turned back towards the man, only to find that he was staring at her with a creepy smile. She raised one side of her lip in disgust and pushed hard against the mans arms, trying to free herself again. But it seemed as if he expected her every move. She'd push against him, and he'd hold still. She'd try and duck under one of his arms, and he just moved it further down.

"Let me go!" she said exasperated. "If you do not release me right this second I'll-"

"-you'll what?" he asked, that grin still on his face "kiss me?"

He leant down towards her, his lips puckered in a way that never really happened in real life. Her lip was still snarled in disgust when she slapped the feeling out his mouth. She even allowed a little green energy to dance at her finger tips, burning a bit of the mans flesh. He hollered like a school girl, but never once moved one of his hands away from the car.

When his screaming stopped, she could see him trying to smile through the pain that was still in his face.

"Your feisty," he said, getting close to her face again "I like a feisty girl. They're...fun to ride."

Did this man have no sense? For one, she was not a animal that you could _ride. _And then there was the fact that they were in the middle of the street. If she wasn't pretending not to have any powers and trying to stay unnoticed, she'd scream bloody Mary, and surely _somebody _would come to help. Plus, she'd probably sue him. He hit a person and then hit _on _the person trying to help. Clearly, he was a simpleton with little sense.

She made, yet another, attempt to get away from him, but this time he didn't just move his hand or his arms. This time, he pushed his entire body against her. She was forced back further onto the car door, her spaghetti strap tank top doing nothing to keep her warm against the cold glass window. He grabbed her hands in one of his, keeping the other still placed by her head.

"I'll make love to you." he surd, close to her ear, making her freeze solid. She could feel his hot, garlicky, breath traveling down her neck, which was where he decided to place his cavity infested mouth. "It'll be better than anything you've ever experienced."

It was then that he pressed his lower region onto her legs, being completely obvious to the fact that he was clearly aroused. The situation had quickly changed from wrong and rude to dangerous and disgusting. This was about the time that her shaking began, and the tear-blurred vision, along with the head shaking. As if this were just a dream and all she had to do was shake her head to get it out. It was Slade all over again. And the Gordanian, and the Psions, and the Citadel.

It was as if every male species had this idea that she was some dimwitted alien princess whose soul purpose in life was to serve and please them. What was it about her that screamed 'Slut open for Business'?

Was it her red hair? She'd never thought of it as anything _bad. _Sure, it was rare to see such a color as hers and maybe a bit eye catching, but was this what was attracting all the wrong people? Was it her eyes? She had been told that they were also a unusual shade of green, but were they _that _bad? Whatever the reason, it seemed to attract males of all races and species.

The man finally pushed off his car, but made no move to let her go. Instead he took a step to the left and opened his car door. Takori began her fight again. No way was some dirty, greasy, cheese stained man with onion breath going to get her in a car and drive her to some dirty hole in the ground. She wouldn't allow it. She'd blast him with her eyes before she even allowed her foot to be in the car, which probably smelled like belched soda.

But when the man placed his hand on her chest, she froze again. Unfortunately, it was like a curse. She couldn't help it. Any unwanted intimacy made her freeze. She knew, deep down, that she needed to keep fighting the man. Stop him from doing something they all'd grow to regret, but she couldn't move. Could hardly breathe.

Even her brain seemed to shut down. The only thing it was able to register was the fact that she _did not _like the fact that the man was now kissing her breast over her shirt. Yet, her brain couldn't comprehend anything further than that.

The man switched back up to sucking on her neck when _he_ froze. Takori was frozen with him, her hands still trapped in the mans larger one. He didn't move, and neither did she. To some extent, she was grateful that he had stopped, but was a little odded out that he was hardly breathing.

A cold wind blew, lifting her hair and then dropping it. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked. The streetlight changed.

After a moment, the man leant forwards and against her. Pressing her against the car so hard that couldn't breathe. But then, he leant backwards and away from her. He continued leaning backwards and Takori was able to pry her own hands free.

The man on the other hand, kept falling until he was flat on his back. He had a small smile on his face, his lips protruding almost awkwardly. His legs where still slightly bent, along with his arms. In other words, he was laying the same exact way he was standing. If Takori had stood him back up on his legs, he'd have looked just as he did before his froze.

She looked up from the man. Standing directly at his head was Dick. Awake and standing as strong and powerful as he was before he had been hit by the car. He was looking directly at her with his clear, pristine, blue eyes that made her heart swoon. In two powerful strides, he was beside her and she was encased in his warm embrace.

It was the most comfort she had had since the night before when he had shown her his eyes. All those feelings of being in his arms and the maybe's that he _could _share her feelings were rushing back to her. Here she was. In the arms of her crush, aka Robin/Dick Grayson. Though they were _technically _the same person, she knew he'd act a bit differently when the mask was gone. Whether or not that was a good thing would tell her with time.

For the mean time though, she brushed the tears that she had finally shed and took a deep breath. Dick let her go, placing his hands on her shoulders and holding her out at arms length.

"Are you okay?" the both asked at the same time.

"You first." Dick said with a smile.

"No," Takori objected "You have just been hit by a car. _You _first."

Rolling his eyes, Dick sighed. "I feel fine, actually. At first I was a little dizzy, but now...its like it never happened. And im not exactly sure that that's normal, but more importantly, are _you _alright?"

Takori took another deep breath and nodded her head. She wasn't really alright at the moment, but she knew that as long as she stuck close to him for a while, she'd be alright. She was about to let him know but in the time it took her to open her mouth he had already pushed her back against the red car.

Takori's breath caught in her throat. Dick was pressing on her just as the man had been doing just minute ago, though not as much. He had both her hands in one of his and his left leg was between both of hers. She _knew _for a fact that she would not be able to get away from him. But did she really want to?

Her answer was an immediate yes, when she saw the look in his eyes. With his mask on, she'd of never caught it, but the kindness and concern he'd had in his eyes just moments ago was now gone. Instead, they looked darker. Urgent. Vicious.

Takori's eyes widened when he leant in close to her. She was certain that he could hear her heartbeat. She knew _she _could hear and feel it in every part of her body. He was scaring her, and it wasn't just because of that darkness she'd seen in his eyes. She wished that she wasn't frozen, so she'd be able to at least respond if he tried something.

"Now what?" he whispered in her ear.

Takori shook her head a little, signaling that she didn't know. She didn't know what he wanted her to do. What he wanted from her. She felt him slump down and then straighten back up. He eased off of her a bit so that he could look into her eyes. Takori noticed that, though not all, but some of that darkness was gone from his eyes and a bit of passion was back.

"Come on, Takori." he said "He's got you pinned against a wall or something," he pushed back onto her, pinning her to the car again. "No one is around you to help. It's dark and your all alone with the guy. Your pinned, you cant move, and you cant show any powers. What do you do?"

Takori understood now. He was _teaching _her. This odd reenactment was a lesson so to speak. He was just worried about her, and decided to show her what to do. She mentally slapped herself. What else would he be doing? He was her best friend, not some ignorantly mental jerk.

Nonetheless, she shook her head slightly again. She realized that she actually didn't know _what_ to do. Whether or not having the knowledge to defeat the guy would keep her from freezing was beyond her, but she was willing to give it a chance.

Finally, Dick realized that she wasn't going to show any advances. Takori had none to make. She didn't know _what _to do. As a princess, she was always heavily guarded by guardians. As a slave, her sister had her back. And here in Jump, she almost never left the tower alone; either because her friends were afraid she'd do something completely unearthly or because they were afraid she'd get loss. Despite her tracker on the communicator.

Secretly, Takori thought her friends were just being protective. She wasn't one to brag or boast about looks, but men never seemed to grant her any peace. She knew she wasn't the only one who noticed this. Her friends always made sure she had someone to go out with. And it was them that she had left, her one true family.

Takori couldn't help the jump and twitch that went through her when Dick touched the back of her leg.

She knew he noticed. He always noticed, yet he seemed to pay no mind. Slowly, he lifted her right leg up until it was rested on his own abdomen. A bit unsure of what was happening, she waited for him to speak.

Despite being in an uncomfortable position, he still made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and she knew for a fact that her heart wasn't a speeding train now because of her being afraid. She _wasn't _afraid of Dick. They were best friends.

"If your pinned by a guy," he said, allowing her leg to fall back down "A good, _hard, _kick between the legs oughta do the trick, or at least get him to back away for a moment. It should give you enough time to run. Aim for power, and kick _up._"

Takori soundlessly repeated his words to herself. This was good stuff. She needed to remember it all.

"Now," Dick continued "After a hard kick, its not guaranteed that he'll let your arms go. But it _is _guaranteed that he'll keel over forwards. I dont know why," he said, bending down forwards like he had actually been kneed "it's just a reflex. So, when he goes to bend forwards, you follow up your previous knee with your other knee, kneeing him in the face."

Takori provisionally touched her knee to his forehead, like she would if she was actually going to knee him in the face.

"Good." Dick said, standing back up "Now, the guys head will snap up from the force, but he'll be disoriented and in a lot of pain. This gives you the opportunity to...turn around..." Dick spun Takori around until her back was pressed against his front. He cleared his throat quickly, and pushed down his blush. This was a lesson she needed to learn. He wasn't about to screw it up because it felt right to be so close.

"Now that your front to back," he continued "you can easily jab him in the stomach. Remember, he controls your hands, not your arms. Jab him in the stomach and after another jab in his face, he'll bend from his stomach jab. Your final step is to lift the arm closest to his."

Dick made sure to move her arms in the appropriate way. Once she mastered this simple get away movement, he'd be allowed a small bit of piece of mind. _No _one was to mess with _his _girl, even if she wasn't quite his...yet. He was getting around to it.

"Lift your, in this case, left elbow and bring it down hard on my arm."

He allowed her to try this technique for real. It would allow her to get the right feel for what she had to do. Surprisingly, she hit his arm just where she was supposed to and from both the pressure and from the exact pressure point spot, he had no choice but to let her hands go. She even pushed him back a small amount and spun herself around to face him. But she lost her balance in the spin and ended up hitting her back on the red car that was still sitting in the street, right next to the owner.

"Nice." Dick said, helping her from the car "The spin was good, but you should _always _get in one last hit, just in case. So, in the spin you do, try bringing up your leg and giving a kick to the face. If it doesn't knock him out, It should give you plenty of time to get away."

Dick was rather proud of her. She had even incorporated her own little nudge and spin. That was the kind of stuff he wouldn't be able to teach her. She acted on her own accord, following her reflexes instead of what he said. It must have felt natural enough for her to automatically add it into her moves. But, he still had to make sure she had this. For both their sakes.

He was able to catch her off guard while she was pushing a loose bit of her hair back. It just seemed fitting to catch off guard somehow.

Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed her hands again and spun them both into the car. It was a bit more rough than he had intended, both of them hitting with an _oomph_. But all for the cause.

He pushed against her, just as he had done before and leant close to her ear.

"Now." he whispered, and before he could even close his mouth she had kneed him hard in his thigh.

Though he knew she had purposefully missed his sensitive member, it was _much _to close for his comfort. Only a small amount of stinging resulted from her knee, but because it was so close to his own private area, he couldn't help but bend forwards, as if it was something that needed to be protected.

True to his words, he was able to keep a hold on her hands, but when he bent forwards, he was met with her knee. She didn't _really _hit him in the head. Instead, she allowed him to hit _himself _in the head from his own momentum. That, was unexpected. He knew that if the time ever came, she'd probably meet the guys head, creating a very painful hit.

With his head on her knee, she pushed it up roughly sending him back into a standing position. She spun around quickly, slamming into his stomach with her elbow bent and sending it into his stomach. He felt her slink away a bit. Apparently, that hadn't been planned. Good. More reflex.

Nevertheless though, it hurt. And he couldn't help bending forwards from the hit, only to be met with her elbow again. Just as she did with her knee, she allowed him to hit his head himself, only pushing him back up while his head was still on her elbow.

He felt her stabbing his arm with her elbow and again, he had to let her go. Before he could even decide whether or not he was standing or bending or whether he was facing forwards or backwards, he blinked a few times and realized that her foot was only about a millimeter away from his head.

She had that adorable smirk on her face that just seemed to scream 'I dare you.' _Oh,_ that look. That incredibly, teasing, hot look. Her hair had fallen in front of her face, probably from the spin, dipping down into her chest that was heaving in and out rather quickly from her obvious adrenaline rush.

With energy and reflex such as hers, he'd have an _extremely _good time teaching her some other techniques. She was a fast learner and acted on her own accord when she saw fitting. He remembered what Raven had said about her being able to do what he could as far as agility, but he had to teach her first. No problem. And then their was _that _look. That look she'd occasionally give him when they trained and she got in a particularly good hit. That look that would turn on any and every man. That look that was down-right-just-plain-mean-to-anyone-who-couldn't-touch sexy.

With a cocky grin of his own, he raised his hands, palms first and showed his surrender. She'd done good. Beat him fair and square. Eased his subconscious and over analyzing mind and even given him some nicely forming bruises. Yeah, he couldn't wait for her to meet Bruce.

Takori lowered her leg, that smirk never leaving her face.

"Come on." he said, motioning his head down the street "We lost the cover of the dawn and we need to get out of these clothes. Plus, we still have to get all the way to the other side of the city to the train station. It's the only train I know of that gets remotely close to Gotham."

Takori nodded, following him to the sidewalk, but stopped short.

"Dick," she said, getting his attention "What about the man?" she turned her head towards the man that was still laying on the street. Frozen in time and still laying as if he were standing. "What did you do to him?"

Dick smiled, walking towards the man. "I hit a pressure point in his neck."

"Will he be alright?" Takori asked. She really had a deep passion of hatred for the man, but to be like this forever? No, that was just cruel.

"He'll be fine." Dick reassured her "It'll wear off. Unless...you want me to get him out now?"

He thought it ought to be her to make the decision. If it were _his _choice, he'd probably choose to snap the mans neck, but, that was just him. He knew Takori would choose something fitting and probably much nicer than he deserved.

He got his answer when she turned and began heading down the street. A small smile graced his lips. It was nice to know that she didn't forgive _that _easily. Although, anyone with eyes knew she forgave to easily and was _much _to trusting. He supposed it was in her nature, but really. Did she have no evil side? No part of her that hated the world for what it had done to her and what the people in the world always wanted to do to her? Could a person really be _that _nice?

She had once told him: you can never be _too _nice.

He expected that to be her motto or something. It was what she lived by everyday. She had told him that there were far to many mean people in the world and everytime she forgave someone easily, she was making up the meanness for one person.

It was a bit too commercial nice for him. He liked to have a bit of leverage over people. He never forgave too easily, it gave the impression that he was a pushover, and he certainly was no pushover.

But, when he was with her, he couldn't help but expect doves to fly out of nowhere with a flower crown and loud happy music to play in the background. The street would suddenly turn into a meadow with a rainbow in the back and a happy sun with blushing pink cheeks would appear. All the kids and people would come and put their arms around each other and begin doing the can-can saying cliché's like 'were all brothers and sisters under the skin.'

_That _would just be to much for him.

Dick jumped out his mind when a man hurried in front of him. He looked around and realized that the streets and sidewalks were starting to get full of people. The stars in the sky were long gone, but the sun was still mostly hidden behind the buildings. A woman with a crying child hurried by on his left, bumping him to the side carelessly.

Dick grabbed Takori's hand. Getting separated would be the worst thing to happen to them. She latched back to his hand frantically, also grabbing his arm and holding tight. He, too had a problem with being so deep in the city. He preferred a little more breathing room and the people who had to get to work could be highly barbarous and careless.

The mall would open in a half an hour, and Dick really wanted to just break in, get what he wanted, leave some money, and get out. It was the fastest way. Paparazzi hung out in malls just for reasons like this. If he could avoid them, the long mall lines, the fans and fan girls (and fan guys who would just _love _to talk to Takori) he'd be a happy man.

Looking out to the street, he saw that taking a cab would be pretty pointless. The morning traffic had begun and he was surely walking faster than most of the cars. If only he could do a black raven or something. Dick waved the thought off. He was _not _going to be the reason the world froze. Nope. Not today.

Dick's stomach let out a growl as he passed a man with a cheese steak stand. He felt Takori take a deep breath in her nose.

"What is that smell, Dick?" she asked, half curious half lost in fantasy. He couldn't help but chuckle at her longing face, and she didn't even know what it was she was smelling.

"That..." he said, stopping at the stand "is a cheese steak."

He held up two fingers to the man, who got to work cooking. He bent down and grabbed his wallet out his sock. He had grabbed it yesterday when he changed his clothes. Robin could _not _be caught with Dick Grayson's wallet. Not only would some people think he stole someones wallet, but then you'd have people who said stuff like 'you know what? They look really similar.' And that was bad. He'd never steal his own wallet. That was physically impossible.

Dick handed the man the money and grabbed the two cheese steaks that he was holding out.

"Hey," the man said, stopping Dick from handing Takori her steak "Aren't you-"

Dick held a hand to his mouth "I'm...here on business." he said, hoping the man wouldn't say his name out loud.

"I have a 13 year old daughter" the man continued "She just _loves _you. Would it be to much to ask to have you...sign this napkin?"

Surprisingly, he already had a napkin and pen in his hand. Dick gave a nervous look around before scribbling his name on the napkin. If there was anything, _anything _at all that screamed 'im someone with a lot of money', it was someone signing an autograph. And believe it or not, napkins was one of the most common things to sign on. That...and backs. He'd done a few back-o-graphs before. Very nasty.

The man seemed almost like he was ready to pop. His face was red and his cheeks seemed to increase 5 times the size they were. But the smile on his face seemed truly genuine.

"She's going to love this!" he practically shouted.

Dick jumped, prepared to make a run for it. If this man didn't stop drawing attention to them, he'd have a mob to run from.

"Thanks for the cheese steak." Dick said, raising the steak for emphasis.

The man suddenly went white. "Dick Grayson," he said, lowly "just brought one of my cheese steaks. One of Gothams Grayson twins, just brought one of my cheese steaks. Dick Grayson-"

Dick never heard the rest, he was already sprinting down the street with Takori in tow, holding tightly to her hand. It wasn't that the man was rude or anything, it was just the fact that he seemed to get louder with every word. Even halfway down the street, he heard the man yelling about how he had brought a cheese steak.

_Was it really that big of a deal?_

People turned around and looked towards the yelling man. Some people took out their phones, ready to snap a picture and get paid for it. A few girls ran towards the cheese steak stand, screaming incoherent words.

By time they stopped running, Dick and Takori were only a block away from the mall. Dick put his hands on his knees. He had long ditched his cheese steak, and apparently so had Takori. But, they were at the mall and still had some time left.

"Alright," he said, looking up at the large clock on the front of the mall "8 o'clock. That means we have 15 minutes to get in and out."

Takori followed him, but she had her doubts about getting in and out in 15 minutes. She'd only seen Dick, or Robin for that matter, shop once. And it surely wasn't anywhere close to 15 minutes. But if he shopped anything like his brother this time, than they were going to be there for a lot longer than 15 minutes. Blue Jay was always naming complicated brands and only matched certain shirts with certain pants with certain sneakers and certain jackets. If a pair of jeans fit wrong, he had no problem with trying on a different pair. He'd do this, maybe, 30 times a store.

Takori herself was always concerned with image. Being a princess could do that to you, but she always knew her size. Blue Jay seemed to need a different one every time. But that may just be all the different brands he tried.

By time he finished shopping, he'd have anywhere from 10-30 bags. Not only would he pay with his credit card as if he it was worth no mare than the floor tiles, but he always paid for the teams clothes and brought lunch (and sometimes dinner) as well. _That _was the only reason the team tolerated his shopping frenzies. And he wondered why the team would groan when someone mentioned the word 'mall' around him.

But the chances of Dick being as fashion obsessed as Blue Jay was slim. With Blue Jay shopping like he did, why would Dick need to shop? They took each others things anyway. It wouldn't surprise Takori if Dick owned _no _regular clothes at all. Blue Jay surely had enough to spare.

Dick seemed quite positive that there were no alarms as he opened a vent near the back of the building. Although Takori was rather skeptical about crawling through the narrow space, she trusted Dick with every being in her. She'd literally follow him to the ends of the earth and beyond, just as he'd done for her.

After a few seconds of snaking down the vent, a horrible smell caught both their noses.

_That **really **reeks. _Dick thought.

"Agreed." came Takori's voice.

He knew he hadn't said a word, but he also knew that the 'connection' they shared would involve odd occurrences. Being an empath allowed them to hear thoughts and talk without actually 'talking.' He suspected that the two of them would be able to 'talk' much easier than if he were to talk to Raven or his brother telepathically.

It was still odd for him to say things that involved him having powers. He was Robin the Boy Wonder _because_ he had no powers. He did things other people couldn't do, and yet he was just a human. But now, he wasn't just a human. He was a _super_human. In a way, it kind of took away the magic of his name. The hope that little kids could grow up and be like Robin or like Batman and not need powers.

He felt as if he had betrayed them in a way. He'd given up, though not willingly, being human to be a superhuman. As if he wasn't good enough as he was before so he had to improve.

"Are you alright, Dick?" Takori asked.

Dick smiled to himself as he continued to shimmy down the vent. How was it that four small words could make him feel so good?

"Yeah," he said "I'm alright. How'd you know I was feeling something?" he asked. Although he just _knew _when it came to her as well.

"I'm not sure," she responded "I suppose...well...perhaps-"

"It's okay," he said, wishing he could look in her eyes. "I know its hard to explain. I feel like that sometimes too."

It was still strange to feel that outside air on his eyes. It was even stranger to look at Takori and know she saw his eyes. When he had first took off his mask in that alley, and he made sure not to let her know this, but his eyes teared up quite a bit. It had been such a long time since he'd been outside without his mask. Nick did that kind of stuff all the time. He was always shopping as Nick Grayson and was always taking pictures and signing autographs. He was really the only one Gotham ever saw. Unfortunately though, no one ever forgot him. Dick was always the topic of Nicks conversations.

Suddenly, the vent ended and opened up into a sewage drainage. Several other vents emptied nasty green liquids into this the large pool of nasty green water. Just the smell alone was enough to knock Dick unconscious.

He slid to the side, giving Takori enough room to climb up beside him and look.

"That does not look inviting." she said, pinching her nose. "Where is it we will go from here? I do not see how we can get into the mall from a sewage hole."

Dick looked up. There had to be some kind of way into the mall from there, clearly, this sewage drain ran under it. Upon looking up, he realized that a panel was sitting on the roof. After looking harder, he realized that the panel was actually a small, gray door, with a lock on it. That must have been the way to the mall.

"Are you certain?" Takori asked.

Dick realized that he must have been talking aloud in his head. He had no idea how he had done that, but eventually, he'd be able to do it willingly. Shaking his head he responded to her.

"Not really. But I see no other alternative."

Thankfully, horizontal bars crossed from where he was and to the ceiling. He'd use them as a latter, although they clearly weren't for that purpose. He just wasn't quite ready to try flying yet. But, that didn't stop Takori.

As he climbed the bars, she floated right beside him. She burnt the lock off the latch, glad it opened easily and was able to get in.

The latch was small and tight, but a light could be seen just a few feet ahead. Despite the short distance, Dick could actually_ feel _the claustrophobia radiating off of Takori. Her feelings made him feel tight and breathing became much harder. The walls had suddenly become a nuisance on his skin and for some reason, he couldn't squirm fast enough. He wondered if this was what Raven meant whenever she said that their emotions was practically screaming at her.

"Takori?" he called ahead, blushing when he looked up and realized that if he tried _really _hard, he could reach her butt. And really, he did want to try.

It was then that he realized that her breathing was extremely uneven. As was his. He figured that it must have been her causing his uneasiness. In the past, he had never had a problem with small places. In fact, he loved them. They were always the best places to hide from his parents, besides somewhere up and above. Nick and him used to play this game with his parents almost every night. Disappearing and staying hidden until they were found. Sometimes, they'd hide so well that the entire circus had to help, it was always Zitka who eventually found them.

"Y...y...yes D...Dick?" Takori asked, her voice cracking and shaking.

"Relax." he told her "The more you panic, the worse it is. Take a deep breath and relax."

Dick followed his own advise and found that not only did she relax but he did as well. Slowly, they were able to inch towards the light.

Takori blasted the thin panel that was letting in the light and crawled out. Dick stood and cracked his back, gaining him a scrunched up face from Takori. As cute as that face was, he had to focus on the fact that they were _not _going to make the time limit. With only 5 and a half minutes left to go, he had to hope no one saw him in here unauthorized.

Dick looked around. They had apparently come up in a storage room. Large boxes and random items like that old dusty remote control, lay discarded around. Near the back corner was a door that Dick began walking to.

He pulled on it a few times before giving up. Normally he'd ask Takori to just pull it open, but now, he was the strong one. And that in itself was just weird. No matter about the door though. With a swift spin and kick, the door was now a pile of splinters on the floor.

He held out his hand and helped Takori over the shattered remains of the door. They came out in a large store filled with electronics. Large TV's and radios were lined on display shelves. As they passed the cell phones he remembered that he didn't have his on. He reached back into his sock and pulled out something shaped like an android.

But of course, as Robin and one of the inheritors of Wayne Enterprises, this was no regular android. In fact, an android wouldn't even be able to fit a 3rd of his memory card on it's tiny micro SD.

Dick waved a hand in front of the screen. He pressed his thumb on the screen and waited for it to finish scanning his thumb print. When it finished, he typed in one of his many passwords and let the phone scan his iris. When he was finished going through his security measures, a holographic screen popped up.

A 3D version of his apps popped up and rotated slowly around his phone. When the app he wanted came into his view, he pressed the app in the air and allowed his voice mails to play. The first one was a machine recording asking him to vote for Gothams new mayor assistant. Pft. Like he was even old enough to vote.

He passed a few other phones and couldn't help but wonder why Takori didn't have one. Figuring that now that they were trying to _fit _in, she'd need one. So he looked in and out of the isles, looking for a phone that would suite her. Really all he needed was a base anyway. Once he was at the manor, he knew he'd pick it apart and bring it more up to date like his.

He deleted the voting message and it automatically went to the next one.

_ Hello Mr. Grayson, _came a female voice _My name is Valerie Winslow, and I'm part of the Gotham Global Angels orphanage fundraiser or GGA. I know this is short notice, but it would really mean a lot to the children and I if you could make an appearance at a local ball fundraiser that we're having to help raise awareness for child abandonment. If your even slightly interested in attending or even writing a note to be read, please give me a call at 856-457-6137. Again, my name is Valerie Winslow and I hope you call soon._

Dick didn't delete that one, but he passed it and let the next one play.

_Are you slow in bed? Always need an extra boost? Viagra- _**Message Deleted. **Played the automatic machine voice.

_Hey Dick. I know this is your cell phone number. I got it from Alfred and confirmed this when I called Nick. You better answer my calls or im gonna hunt you down- and you know I will- and go screaming down the streets giving out your baby pictures. Yeah that's right. I stole them from Alfred and made copies. Barbra G- _**Message Deleted.**

Dick cast a nervous glance at Takori. She quickly diverted her gaze and he knew, she'd been interested in that message. Barbra was very persuasive and he had nearly forgotten about her. He'd be sure to avoid her at all costs while he was staying at the manor.

**Next Message. **

_Dick, this is Barbr- _**Message Deleted.**

_DICK GRAYSON! What the he- _**Message Deleted.**

_Hey Dick, sorry I screamed on the last message, but I just saw you on the news doing some stupid stuff. I just wanted to say that if you ever- _**Message Deleted.**

_Alright Dick, this is getting to be a very one sided phone. I really miss y- _**Message Deleted**

_Dick, do you even care about me? Because if you did then you wouldn't ignore me like you do. Why dont you call me back. I really want to talk to you and- _**Message Deleted.**

_Hey Dick, I told you in a previous message that I was coming down to get you and here I am. I'm at the airport coming to get you. The ride is about an hour or so long so I should be there by 4. _**Message Deleted.**

_Alright. You better be glad I have a conscience. I'm back at home. I had a last second change of heart and decided not to get on the plane. Yeah, very un-me-like. But I will continue to stalk you and your juvenile team. I'm not sure if this is a faze or- _**Message Deleted.**

_Okay _came a young voice. If Dick had to put an age on it, he'd say the voice, clearly male, was no older than 12 or 13 years old. Nonetheless, he listened to the message. _This is going to sound kind of weird and you may think im pranking you, but seriously, im not. My names Tim Drake. Stop searching your head, you dont know me...yet. I...erm...well, I think it'd be best if you called me...or maybe you could just __**pick up your phone **__when I call. I know your busy with your...extra curricular activities- and yes I know about them, one more reason to trust me- but what I have to say is really important. Or, at __least to me it is. Please call back, or...__**ANSWER YOUR PHONE! **__Ha ha, you should know that im stalking you! Sike, but no really, call me or as I have already mentioned __**ANSWER YOUR PHONE!**__ Did I mention my name? Well, its Tim. Kind of like Bob, but you'd have to make the first 'B' a 'T' and the 'o' a 'I' and the last 'B' next to the middle 'O' a 'M'. So yeah that's me. Bob but not quite. Please call...or __**ANSWER YOUR PHONE! **__Bye._

**Message Saved.**

Not only was that message weird, but it was kind of funny. Who would compare the name Tim to BOB? But then, who would give the name Richard the nickname Dick?

"You should call him back." Takori said. She sounded kind of strained, like she was forcing kindness. Something that rarely happened. Oddly, he couldn't sense much coming off her. No strong emotion, no loud mind screaming. She just seemed...agitated. It _could _have something to with the 20 million messages that Barbra left, but, why would messages from Barbra make her agitated?

"Really, Dick." she said, her voice a small amount back to normal "He sounds like he has something he needs to tell you."

Dick shrugged. "People always have something they need to tell me."

"Are they always children?"

"Well...no. Not normally."

"You should call him. Tim was it?"

"Yeah, Tim...or Bob" Dick chuckled as he dialed the return number.

_Sups, you've reached Tim. If your important enough, maybe I'll call you back. In fact. There's a good chance im listening to you on the phone right now, but dont care about you enough to answer. Anyway, leave a message when the ever-so cliché beep goes off. Tim out._

Oh great, a smart alack.

**Beeeeeeeep.**

"Um yeah, hey Tim...or Bob or whatever. Listen, I got your message just now and I got to say, it cracked me up. Anyway, I have _no _idea what it is you need or want, but keep calling me. When it comes to my phone, im kind of empty headed and slow to getting around to my messages. Anyway, I hope im important enough for you to _call _me back. Maybe _you _should _**ANSWER YOUR PHONE! **_And BTW how you know about my 'extra curricular activities' _will _be questioned. Call me when you get the chance._ Dick out._"

Dick placed his phone back in his sock and grabbed a regular android phone, like his for Takori. He grabbed a charger from the shelf and a green and purple flowery case for it. It was as good as any. He pulled out his wallet and put a wad of cash in its place.

"Dick, what are you doing?" Takori asked, accusingly.

Dick snorted. If anyone knew, it was her.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing?' I'm getting you a phone. You need one."

"But you can not take that." she said, almost horrified.

"I'm not stealing," he said, making his way to the door "It's paid for. Plus, I dont want a plan. I'll just sign you on with mine and Nicks."

"_Dick. _You are the stealing of nically's and tech."

"Thats _'technically' _and no im not. I paid for it, and even left a tip."

He pushed open the door, making sure he avoided the eyes of some of the people in the mall.

"Besides," he said "The camera's are off."

"Cameras?" she asked, and Dick knew he had let that slip out "I thought you said there was no security."

"Yeeaah," he said, scratching the back of his head "I lied. I knew you wouldn't come in if you thought the place was guarded."

"And I would not."

"Thats why I lied."

He took the phone out the case and threw the case away. No one walks around with an unopened phone box with the electronics store closed. It just spelled 'I robbed that place.'

"I'll have to let it charge." he said, looking towards Takori, who had her hands folded over her chest and was pouting. She looked extremely cute when she was angry.

But he knew he could lighten up her smile with a bottle of mustard and something to eat. Really, she was just hypoglycemic. She needed some food. But first, they needed some clothes.

Without saying a word out loud, she led him towards a spot he supposed was where his brother usually shopped. The store was called 'Couture.' It seemed to be filled to the rim with clothes. Though it was open, hardly anyone was in there but it could have been due to the fact that the prices where so high. He looked at the display window. A single t-shirt was $275 dollars. He could make one for that money!

Yet, this seemed to be the perfect spot for his brother. Nick always did like the expensive fashionable clothes. Dick, he was more comfortable in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Although spandex and a cape was also very homely.

It had been a while since Dick had been shopping for himself. The last time he'd gone was when the team had dragged him out against his will. He'd been reluctant, but the moment he brought the first shirt, he had flashes of how he and his brother used to shop and the fun they had. After his initial shopping freakout- which involved him just running around the stores and looking at everything- he _really _began shopping. He and his brother had started out strong. Choosing the same stores, buying the same stuff, trying on the same amount of clothes. But soon, Dick had tired them all out. Even Nick couldn't keep up.

He'd went in every store at least 3 times and brought something new each time. It was the mall manager who had finally made him stop shopping. He had kicked the entire team out of the mall and claimed that Dick was 'buying to much stuff.' _Pft_. You cant buy to much stuff!

Nonetheless, he'd gone home with over 200 bags. Raven had to carry them all in a large bubble. Dick had ended up donating most of his clothes for lack of space, although he had kicked and screamed and pleaded for Cyborg to build him a bigger closet. It was actually Beast Boy who had donated the clothes behind his back only leaving 15 measly bags.

Beast Boy was shunned for a week.

But, no one asked him to go shopping again. True, he wasn't a fan of wasting his time looking for personal gaining items when he could be looking for the next criminal to strike, but the thrill of sales and the ego boost that came with a new jacket was well worth it. He just couldn't help buying what he liked. _Everything _he liked.

But this time, he was determined to buy a shirt, jeans, and a pair of pajamas _only_. Nothing else. No more. Not one accessory. But, _oh. _That jacket there! It would go nicely with a pair of jeans Nick had. And those sneakers! They matched _so _nicely with that shirt! But, _OH! _What about that watch! Oh, how he wanted that watch. And...

"No." Takori said, pulling him away by his ear.

"But-" Dick started, he just _**needed **_that watch.

"No." she said simply, pulling him away.

* * *

><p>AN: How bout that. Tim's here! I know, I know. I skipped a few Robin's, but I just love TIM! Maybe I'll throw Jason Todd or Damien or Stephanie or something in later. But I just love TIM! Did I say that already? Anyway, I still have a few surprises and tricks up my sleeve. Stay posted! I command you...please?

**_Read and Review!_**


	9. Traveling Makes my Head Hurt

OMG, soo sorry about the wait. had so much to do...but folks, I got news.  
>I'm discontinuing this story. Sorry.<br>SIKE! HAHAH! I know, cruel. Sorry had to get it out my system.  
>This probably would have been done weeks ago but my twin brother was hoggin the dang thing.<br>Have I mentioned him? Yeah, actually im a quintuplet (which means theres 5 of us)  
>Yup, me and my sister Violet, and my brothers Bryce, Xavier, and Ryan (like ryand'r!) Not very twin-like names, but hey, thats my mom and dad.<br>THEY GET ON MY NERVES!  
>Well, now that thats outta the way, on with the story!<p>

* * *

><p>-_-TT-_-<p>

_**A Test of Faith**_

After 20 minutes of shopping, both Dick and Takori had already brought their day clothes. Dick sporting a pair of comfy, and stretchy, skinny jeans and a dark red long sleeved turtleneck. Along with black and white chucks. Takori had on a white turtleneck, much like Dicks and a pair of comfy, and also stretchy, skinny jeans. The chucks he suggested felt both new and extremely sporty to Takori.

Dick had insisted that they wear something they could run in easily. Just in case.

The mall was filling up. Mostly with adults since it was still quite early in the morning, but a few groups of teens (all of which Dick watched closely) were scattered around. He found that if he kept his head down and allowed his gel-less hair to cover most of his face, he was easily concealed from the people. Only a little girl-who he had smiled and waved at just for the heck of it- had stared at him the whole time.

"Let us look at the pajamas and leave." Takori said "We are not sure what time the train leaves."

She was talking in a hurry and pulling him along. If she hadn't known, she would of never guessed that a little over an hour ago, he had been hit by a car and knocked unconscious.

It was then that Dick realized that he was going through the racks and looking at shirts. He even had a few draped over his arm, all of which had good reason to be in his possession.

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me just-" he started, his eyes set on at least 4 of the shirts in his hand.

"No, Dick." she said, almost playful.

"But what if I just grabbed 2 or maybe 3 or-"

"Richard John Grayson. No." she said this firmly, but a smile was so evident on her face that he wondered why it seemed like she was trying to hide it.

"Don't Richard John Grayson me." he said, putting up little fight against her "How about you, Takori Anders. I saw you eying _everything."_

"That may be so, but I did not grab anything besides what I have on."

"But what if you gave me a time limit. That way I could-"

"I believe the phrase is 'Not a possibility.'"

"I think you mean 'Not a chance' but fine, I can take a hint."

"I hope so, I have been leaving them for the past 10 minutes."

He huffed and held his head high, as if he was insulted. But secretly, he was just glad Takori was acting like her old self again. Having her even slightly angry at him radiated off of her and actually made him feel down. But as she looped her arm through his and began walking to the other part of the store, it was hardly bothering him anymore.

Dick, being ever-so observant- was carefully watching his emotions and how they affected both him and Takori.

He did his first tests in secret. While she was shopping for a shirt, he hid behind a rack and called her name . While her senses was good, they were no where near as good as the fact that she knew exactly where he was. Every time. He did this a couple times, changing it a bit each time. He'd call her name and hide in the opposite direction, and she'd look directly at where he was hiding. He found that he too, could find her with his eyes closed if he concentrated.

His next test involved a bit of his own emotions. He tried thinking sad thoughts, like his parents death or leaving his brother and team behind. He saw that she actually began to frown and was nowhere near the Takori or even Starfire that he was used to. He then changed his emotions as drastically as he could, thinking about how glad he was that she was with him. The heartwarming, genuine smile that crossed her face nearly sent him into a coma. He tried again, thinking about that prom with kitten that he was forced to go on. She unfeignedly burnt one of the shirts. Though he could see it in her eyes (after they powered down of course) that it was an honest mistake. She looked around and quickly made her way across the isles and far away from the shirts ashes. He couldn't help but laugh at that.

Besides the scary emotional shifts that she went through in less than 2 minutes, the connection he had with her was just getting more real with the minutes that went by. Before, the 'connection' was just a word he was using to say that he and her had gone through something together. But now, he could see. They didn't just go through something together, they were really _connected. _They were one in the same. He was now a odd male version of her. Okay, that may have been a bit of a stretch, but the meaning was still there.

They were closer. Better friends. They were feeding energy off each other. Breathing the same air, with the same heartbeats, and the same blood. If he wasn't so in love with her, he'd go as far as saying as close as his twin. Maybe even closer.

He stopped his thought there. He was subconsciously downgrading his relationship with his brother. He and his brother was closer than most people knew. They had been through more than Takori even needed to know. Both he and Nick had seen things at the age of 9 that most people would wake up screaming in the night from. Yeah, it was that bad.

Bottom line: he and his brother were close and him and Takori were closer than he thought. Simple. Dick found that when he spelled things out for himself, plain and simple, he was able to put them to the side.

For now, he just needed to find a pair of pajamas that Takori wouldn't laugh at and was warm enough to keep his blood moving at night. Simple.

He was pulled from his simple thoughts when he felt what felt like his skin slicing. He looked towards his arm, where he felt it. That feeling was one of the worse feelings he knew. That feeling of having his skin ripped open. It was one of the reasons he hated paper cuts so bad. It was like a thin sensual pain that burned. But as he looked towards his covered arm, he saw no blood. He hiked up his dark red sweated for a better look and still saw nothing, but a red line in his skin where he had felt the stinging.

It almost looked like he'd been whipped by something, but he hadn't seen anything hit or cut him.

"Dick?" asked Takori. Her voice was so low that he if it hadn't of reverberated in his head, he'd probably of missed it.

When he looked towards her, he noticed that a line of dark red was spreading on her white turtleneck in the exact same spot that it looked like he'd been whipped on his arm. He pulled up her sleeve and looked at her arm. It didn't appear to be anything to serious, but he still quickly grabbed the nearest shirt and ripped a sleeve off and tied it around her arm. If someone told him he'd have to pay, he'd have no issues with it.

Once her arm was wrapped tight, he looked around himself. He'd felt whatever had sliced her. Either it was an _actual _whip, or someone had thrown something sharp at her.

He found his answer when he looked towards the entrance door. Their was a man standing, staring straight at him. Nothing unusual stood out about the man. He was average height, if not a little on the short side. He had a pair of circular glasses on that he pushed up with his hand and squinted through. He had on a pair of high waters and a black shirt with a red jacket. A small gold pin was clipped to the collar of his jacket. His short scruffy brown hair was ratty and seemed in desperate need of some clippings.

Dick couldn't see how someone as normal as him-and who wore glasses- could aim something so well. Clearly the hit was to get their attention and not to actually hurt them. Dick looked towards the mans hands. In them he held a variety of cards, much like the joker used.

"My toys." the man said. His voice was clear and not raspy, as Dick had expected. The man tossed another card towards them, hitting the ground in front of them. A orange powder came from the card, choking both Dick and Takori.

Dick put his arm up in front of his face and grabbed Takori's hand. When the cloud disappeared, Dick couldn't help a small yelp when he realized that the man was standing directly in front of him. Not that that was so unpredictable, it was just...fast.

Dick took a slow step back, keeping an eye on the man and his hands. Dick's eyes focused back on the entrance when he realized that another man, looking exactly like the one in front of him, was coming in. And right behind him was 3 other copies. They all had that small golden pin on their collars and cards in between each of their fingers.

Somehow, Dick had managed to get the men to follow him in his backing away and was able to turn their direction and have a clear way to the entrance.

"Where you going, Dick?" spoke one of the men "You cant run from us."

"We know where your trying to get to, Dick." said the one behind him.

"He cant help you." said another one.

"You wont even make it to the train station." said the first one.

"If our master allows you to get there," said the last one "You wont live much longer after that as you do now."

"You both will fall under his rule soon." they all said, unanimously.

Dick turned towards the door quickly, hoping to make a break for the exit, but one of the men were standing in his way. Dick turned back into the store, only to find it empty. He turned back to the entrance, just in time to see the man toss a card.

Instincts kicked in before he even registered the card in the mans hand. Things went by too quickly for Dick to realize what had happened. But he found himself running past stores and on his way to the mall exit, Takori keeping his pace easily.

Dick stopped at the escalator down to the first level and looked back. People were giving him odd glances. Yet, he couldn't see any strangely not-normal men with circular glasses and hands full of cards.

Leaning over the safety railing, he scanned the crowds for anyone out of the ordinary. The glasses man with the cards and pin may not have been alone. In fact, it was more likely that the man was with someone than not. He allowed Takori a second to catch her breath and scanned the crowd again.

Closing his eyes, he listened to the thoughts of the people, hoping to catch a thought or two from the mysterious men.

Takori watched as Dick closed his eyes. His face was blank and emotionless, it was his focusing face. Deciding to let him focus for a while, she looked over the levels safety rail as Dick had been doing before. Everyone seemed to be doing whatever it was they wanted to do. No one looked as if they were searching for someone, or even menacing. Although the man with the long beard and tattoo covered arms _did _look a little scary.

The mall was large. Very large, and filled with tons of people. How could she possibly find _and _avoid, 5 normal looking men?

She watched for a moment as a woman pried a small boy off one of the fancy red curtains that hung, draped on the safety rail. That was one thing about the mall that she loved. Despite the large size, the makers still tried to keep things 'classy.' There were small decorations everywhere. Most of which people probably didn't notice. The woman was finally able to pry off the small boy, but ended up ripping the curtain in the process. The lady paid no mind to it and pulled the now screaming boy back towards the stores.

Takori smiled, but suddenly felt as if a headache was coming. What started as a small nuisance was now increasing every seconds. Putting her palm on her temple, she looked to Dick who stumbled backwards. She caught him just in time, her arms shaking a little from the effort.

"Richard?" she whispered, helping him stand back up.

"To many voices." he murmured, his voice low and slurred sounding.

Figuring he had taken in too much too fast, she didn't worry too much. Yet, she still held on to his arms while he tried to steady his balance.

"Did you hear anything useful?" she asked, letting his arms go when he seemed steady.

"All I heard was a bunch of noisy voices." he said, clearly discouraged.

Before Takori could even try to offer some cheerful advise a big collapsing sound and earth shattering tremor rocked the entire mall. Loosing her footing, Takori fell onto her butt and covered her head with her hands.

Only a second went by before she felt Dick drop down beside her and covered her too. The shaking suddenly died along with the sounds and was now filled with the sounds of screaming pedestrians and running feet.

Dick lifted off of Takori and allowed her to sit up. The entire mall, or at least that part of the mall, was filled with dust and dirt. Even if she squinted and looked really hard, she'd only be able to see about 2 feet in front of her.

She felt Dick grab her hand and help her stand up. Even when he let his hand go limp, she still didn't let go of it.

As the dust began to clear, the cause of the loud sound and tremor was apparent. The escalator had fallen.

"Escalators dont just fall." Dick said, looking over the space where the escalator used to be, and down below.

"Perhaps it was...sueded." Takori said, a bit unsure of her words.

"Thats '_Per-_sueded', and I think your right." Dick corrected. "Look." He bent down, picking up a half burnt card. It was too far burnt to be recognizable, but Dick could only think of 2 people who ran around with exploding cards, and one of them was for sure in the mall with them.

Dick leant back quickly, unsure why until he realized that a sharp card was suddenly lodged in the safety railing. He looked at the card and within a few seconds, it erupted in a ball of flames, burning the safety rail down to ashes.

Another card landed at Dicks feet. He backed away, cautiously. And soon, it too erupted into a ball of flames, but with nothing to burn it quickly burnt itself out.

Dick stopped backing away when his foot slipped over the ledge of the level. He was able to catch his balance, but without the safety railing, another card would easily send him over. Coming through the dust was no other but the oddly-normal man.

He sucked his teeth, as if he expected Dick and Takori to already be dead.

"Just surrender yourselves." he said, another card ready between his fingers "Give yourselves to the master now, and perhaps he will spare you together."

"Spare us?" Dick scoffed, but really, he was searching around wildly, looking for means of escape if another card was thrown. "Your trying to _kill_ us."

"No, no, no." the man said, shaking his ratty hair wildly "We dont want to _kill _you. We needed to get your attention, and now that we have it, you need to come with me."

"No." Takori said, her peripherals searching around as well "We will not be taken as your prisoners."

"What do you even want with us? And who is this 'master'?" Dick asked, inching his way towards a raggedy hanging curtain. It was hanging on a track. If Dick could just get himself and Takori on it, they could slide down and more-or-less land in the center fountain or their butts. Which ever came first.

"Those are questions for the master himself. But for now, I must take you in by any means necessary."

Yup, that man was definitely not normal. No matter, by time the man had even pulled his wrist back, prepared to throw a card, Dick had Takori's hand they were both sprinting to the red curtain. Having her in his head was proving to be more useful than he imagined. No words needed to be spoken. No insignificant movements or hints as to what his plan was. No, all he had to do was think it and she would get the message.

Dick quickly grabbed the curtain, praying it wasn't as destroyed as it looked and would hold both his and Takori weight.

A card sliced a bit of the curtain, allowing a red ribbon of fabric to fall from it. Putting Takori between him and the curtain, she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding tight. It still amazed Dick how even when she tried, she could not hurt or even effect him...physically. Her having the strength of a normal girl really boosted his ego, though. It reminded him how strong _he_ was, reminded him that his countless hours of training weren't being wasted.

Yet at the same time, holding her and not worrying about being squished to death was very satisfying. He'd never _actually _held a girl before her. Sure, he'd caught falling women and girls, but normally they were screaming and clawing at his face while he tried to avoid some treacherous peril. Just sitting, relaxing, and holding her was extremely comforting. Even now, as he prepared for a jump off a mall level, he was getting goosebumps.

He gave the curtain a quick yank, just making sure it still had a little strength to it. When it held tight, he lept.

Both he and Takori screamed, him louder than her. And this was probably because her hold on his neck had increased at least 10 notches tighter. It was amazing how he'd just been thinking about how weak she was and how strong he was, yet here he was...being choked to death _by _her. It was true, adrenaline gave people the strength they never had. And he should know, he used it in every fight. It gave good energy boosts and helped block out any pain.

Through the flailing curtain, that was still holding (phew), and Takori's thrashing hair in his face Dick could hardly see anything. They say that when a person looses a sense, their other senses are enhanced. Both Dick and Nick had been working to enhance their senses for years without the loss of a sense. And thankfully, their training worked. They could see, smell, and hear things at least 5 times better than the average human. And this, is why Dick was the only one to hear the slicing in the air behind him.

He turned as best as he could swinging wildly through the air. He looked up just in time to see yet another card slice through the curtain they were swinging on. The little cut managed to throw off the whole weight dynamic, and Dick found himself cringing at the tearing sound coming from above him.

The curtain gave one last shuddering rip, and almost like in the cartoons he used to watch, Dick felt as if he and Takori had stopped, suspended in air before dropping down to towards the ground.

Takori screamed louder, if that was possible. Dick didn't even feel the need to scream, she was doing enough for the both of them.

Fortunately, they had at least made the target; the fountain that they were currently sitting in. It wasn't as deep as Dick had thought it was, only coming to his waste, but it beat hitting the floor.

A small splash came behind him and Takori, and both of them realized it was a card at the same time. As fast as they got in, Dick hauled Takori and himself out. Whether or not the card was a trick card didn't even matter. What mattered was the fact that the man had somehow made it to the ground level, that pedestrians were gathering around again (probably haven seen the whole show), and that he could already see a few flashes of camera's, meaning the paparazzi were close.

Dick hadn't even taken two steps away from the fountain before a microphone was pushed in his face.

"Nick Grayson," a woman spoke. She had short black hair that just brushed her shoulders. Her red sweater over a black turtleneck and dark dress pants gave her the look of a regular vulture. "My name is Cashmere Garth and im from-"

"Not Nick." Dick said plainly, trying to make his way through all the cameras and tape recorders.

As if his words were magic, all the flashes stopped and no one spoke for a second. Dick slowed down, thinking maybe they stopped out of fear, but after a quick second of looking around, he realized that all eyes were on him.

So okay, he hadn't been out as himself in a while, but really? Was it honestly earth shattering? He could make it earth shattering if he really tried, but now that they had their clothes, he had to focus on getting to the other side of town. He had no train station schedule or any idea what train even went the direction he needed. For all he knew, he might have missed the train he needed already.

But a flash caught his eyes, and then another, and another, and soon, the blinding white lights was all he could see.

'Dick Grayson where have you been?'

'Wheres your brother?'

'Are you here for business?'

'Is this your girlfriend?'

'What does Mr. Wayne think about his new arrangement?'

'Do you think he's ready?'

'-have you met him before?'

Dick had early learned that when you had no idea what the paparazzi were talking about, dont respond. Because any answer you give will put you in the magazines and newspapers. You'd end up saying something completely right and appropriate, or you'd end up offending a whole nation or something. Something that had happened to both him and Nick. Several times.

Dick couldn't help looking over his shoulder. Whoever was out to get him and Takori _knew _him and his identity, and that was enough to make him paranoid. Unfortunately and fortunately, he was packed in tight with the paparazzi.

Every step he took on resulted in having to take two back. With cameras and lights in his face, he could hardly tell whether or not he was still moving. Yet, he knew that when he panicked, he had a tendency to just disappear. Not literally, but he did somehow always find a way to remove himself from whatever situation he was in. One of the perks of being a ninja. But he wasn't sure if Takori could keep up with his crazed escape manner.

Even now, she clung to his arm as if he knew the magic word to get the people to clear. He felt her ragged breathing, as it was effecting his own. Her hair had fallen in her face and she made no move to remove it. Besides making her look incredibly hot, it also made the paparazzi angry. Getting bad pictures always made them angry. And _that _was something he knew how to do. Pranking paparazzi was one of his specialties.

Takori was clearly uncomfortable, and to Dick that was completely understandable. As of late, he realized a small phobia of small places with her. Back in the sewer drain, that secret latch door, and now surrounded by people. For someone who could fly, it didn't seem very far off. Alas, he knew no magic words to help them out, and if he did it'd be long wore out by now. But wait, maybe he did know a few magic words or two.

"Eww!" he screamed, pointing to some unknown place behind all the camera's "Is that Shia Labeouf and Leonardo DiCaprio holding hands?"

You'd have to be a fool not to turn around to that one. Fortunately, all paparazzi were fools. The moment the lights turned from his face, he made a beeline out the inner circle of vultures. He had the sudden urge to scream 'Not Today!'

His mind was suddenly bombarded by continuous thoughts of both Leonardo and Shia, and it took him a moment to figure out that it was Takori thinking about them. She followed him closely, but still kept looking around her. Was she seriously looking for them? What was so great about _them_? He had just grabbed some big names out his head and threw them out, so why was she looking for _them? _What did _they _have to offer her? Nothing!

Dick calmed himself. She probably didn't even know who they were, and was just looking like everyone else. Right?

Wrong. Takori absolutely _**LOVED **_both Shia Labeouf _and _Leonardo DiCaprio. They were both _so _cute and such good actors. Yes, she loved Dick/Robin more than anything, but was it wrong for her to _admire_ the physique and skill of another person. And Shia and Leonardo both had physique. But she knew that Dick had problems when it came to her admiration. Sometimes.

This whole situation reminded her of what happened a few weeks ago.

She and Raven had been flipping through a magazine showing all the hot guys of the year. It was an rare occasion when Raven _ever _did anything girly, so Starfire had decided they ought to look in the living room, where everyone could see and no one could ever say Raven didn't do anything girly.

Page after page of hot guys laughing, serious, shirtless, sexy, had done Raven some good. She actually began picking out guys she thought was cute and making fun of the guys that were obviously not. It was fun, and Starfire wished they could do it more often.

They gotten to a page that showed Joe Jonas and Zac Effron when Robin had appeared, hair still wet from his after training shower. Raven had totally swooned over Joe, but Starfire couldn't decide between him and Zac.

Whereas earlier, Blue Jay had been laughing at the guys they were looking at in a brotherly kind of way, saying things like Alex Pettyfer had a jaw like Cinderblock or that Josh Hutcherson probably had a hairy back. Funny stuff that she couldn't help but laugh at.

Robin on the other hand had looked as if he wanted to go back and train his hands until they bled. His face was hard and passive and he hadn't said a word.

It wasn't until her and Raven reached the last page of the magazine that he actually allowed some emotion to pass his face. Now, Takori understood. Seeing your face in a magazine titled Worlds Cutest could do that to you.

Blue Jay had coughed on the orange juice he was drinking and Cyborg had to give him the Heimlich Maneuver. Robin had fallen off the arm of the sofa he had been sitting on. Both him and Blue Jay had crawled over to get better looks at the picture.

It was an absolutely _adorable_ picture. The title at the top of the page read 'Double Trouble.' The entire background of the picture was white. A white bench-like chair was dead in the middle of the picture. On it, was both Dick and Nick. Now that she knew the difference, she realized that Dick had been the one hunched over laughing his heart out and Nick was the one sitting up, laughing just as hard.

A whole paragraph had been dedicated to explaining how he and his brother played pranks on their 'dad' and the paparazzi. It said a bit more, but Takori couldn't remember what. She _did _ remember that that was the only page that had words, besides a name, on it.

Immediately she and Raven had claimed those two the cutest of the entire book saying that it was smart for the magazine team to save the cutest for last. They'd made copies and hung the pictures in their room.

Thinking back now, Takori realized how embarrassing that could be now. Thank goodness though, Robin was in, what the team called 'Blackout Time.' It happened everytime either Blue Jay or Robin trained. They always had a blackout moment for exactly 10 minutes after a workout. It didn't matter what happened in the span of that 10 minutes, but they never seemed to remember it later.

Raven said that that forgotten time-span was just their brain switching from training mode to as-normal-as-they-get mode.

That was always the time that Beast Boy and Cyborg always asked for stuff. Robin or Blue Jay would agree and later find themselves completely surprised when something odd came up.

But right now, she thanked with all her heart that he had been in that "Blackout Time' because that would make this whole trip really awkward.

Dick pulled back on Takori's arm a bit, slowing her down. Takori looked back at him, only realizing why he'd done that when a sharp card landed just an inch away from her foot. She didn't have time to even think about the close call or dull ache in her arm because Dick was already on the move again, pulling her along.

After turning a corner and running a little further, he stopped, allowing her to catch her breath. She rested her hands on her knees for a bit. Dick on the other hand didn't look at all out of breath. He was looking around, trying to spot anything out of place. Takori bet this was nothing but his morning warmup.

Looking behind her, she realized that they had ran all the way to the other side of the mall. They had to have because she was right in front of the in-mall car wash. Thanks to Cyborg, she probably knew this part of the mall best. It was filled with cars and auto-shops. Things that Cyborg said he lived for.

The large glass garage door that let cars in and to the car wash was backed up with cars. New ones and old ones and ones that was just plain ugly. As tired as she was of cars, especially red sports cars, she couldn't help but stare at them. Cyborg and Robin had given her a fascination with them.

She couldn't understand why the material things meant so much to them. It was not alive. It needed nothing but fuel to go. So why did they treat their vehicles like actual people?

Looking into the car wash, Takori saw that it was empty, which seemed odd since so many cars were lined outside. She watched the still equipment. In it's own dark shadows, the equipment and dark tunnel looked foreboding and eerie. So different from when she rode with Cyborg when he got his car washed. Cyborg always had loud music playing and laughed about the mediocre equipment. He made the ride fun and the car wash much less scary than it was now.

"Watch out!"

Takori turned around just fast enough to see a silver truck headed towards her. The front windshield of the truck was tinted completely black. The tires squeaked loudly against the shiny marble floor, proving that it was going as fast as she thought. She froze solid, not even thinking about running or putting up some kind of shield.

Right before she was hit, she felt Dick grab her and roll her onto the the hood, him taking most of the force.

The car slowed as it was automatically hooked onto the tracks in the ground, making its way forwards slowly. The dark, eerie car wash suddenly came to life. The equipment moving and rolling as if it was suddenly called off its lunch break. Yet, she paid no attention to the fact that water was now pouring down on her head. Instead, she turned her attention to Dick.

"Are you alright?" she asked frantically.

"How many times," he said, ignoring her question "does a _normal_ person get hit by a car in one day?"

"Are you o and kay, Dick?" she asked, ignoring _his _question.

Dick sat up, looking at her as if the answer was obvious.

"Yeah," he said casually "Im fine. Are _you _**okay**?" he said, making sure he pointed out that o and kay is not how you say 'okay'.

"I believe so." she answered, still amazed that he was completely indifferent.

Before either of them could say anything, a layer of foam was spraying them. Takori closed her eyes, trying to keep the soap out. She reached out her hand, hoping to find Dick's. As odd as it was, holding his hand wasn't awkward. Back at the tower, she blushed whenever he bumped her in the hallway. She turned her hair color whenever his knee bumped hers at dinner or when they were watching a movie. Yet now, holding his hand seemed to be the only thing keeping her sane. Just knowing her was there with her, calmed her nerves.

Before her hand could travel to far though, one of the equipment arms hit her in her back, sending her forwards and colliding with Dick. The spongy rollers rolling up and down their backs.

To Dick, it was almost relaxing. Her chest pressed tightly with his was both insanely amazing feeling and awkward at the same time. He'd move, but the pressure of the machine pushed him forwards to hard, keeping him pushed up against Takori. Problems? Where, he didn't see any. As far as he was concerned, this was pretty darn close to paradise. Although, he could do without the stinging in his eyes from the soap.

No sooner had he thought this, a hot layer of water fell onto him, rinsing his eyes and hair out.

He jumped when he felt his foot vibrate. The arms of the machine finally dropped from his back, allowing him to move. Reaching down, he pulled out his- waterproof- cell.

"Hello!" he asked, needing to scream over all the noise of the wash.

"Dick?" came a voice.

Dick could barely hear the voice. It sounded pretty young and probably female.

"Dick, it's Tim."

_Oops. More like male._

"Hey, Tim!" Dick screamed, catching Takori looking at him. "Tim, look, nows kind of a bad time to call!"

Dick couldn't hear what Tim was saying, the dryer of the car wash was going off, practically deafening him. He looked at his phone again, and realized Tim had hung up. Putting his phone back in his sock, Dick took Takori's hand and slid to the edge of the hood.

Someone was in the car they were on. Someone who wanted to run them over. It would be best if neither of them were in the way when the car got off the wash track.

It would probably be easiest if they both just climbed on top of the entire machine and figured out their next move from there. He looked up to the top of the car wash and looked at Takori. She followed his gaze and nodded. Did he mention how _awesome _it was having her in his head?

The moment the car came out from the wash, he and Takori was up and scrambling to get to the top of the wash. He jumped up easily, and he knew she had used a bit of flight to help her out. The silver trucks wheels squeaked once off the track. Its wheels spun at least twice before actually moving forwards.

It drove forwards, only to brake hard and spin 180 degrees and face both Dick and Takori. Dick could hear the revving of the engine loud and clear, but even louder than that was the familiar sound of running people. Running people calling his name, meaning, the vultures were close.

Dicks mind was a clouded mess. It was time to spell things out plain and simple for himself. Option 1: Jump down off of the car wash, and lure everyone away from Takori, leaving her alone.

Option 2: Jump down _with _Takori and make a run for it, chancing being run over and bombarded by reporters. Not smart.

Option 3: Jump on top of car and takeout whoever is driving, chancing a very graphic newspaper story.

Option 4: Try to fly to vent in roof before reporters get here.

So far, option 4 seemed to be his best bet, but, flying was still so new to him and Takori wasn't strong enough to carry him anymore.

"What about the shield?" Takori asked.

Dick had to remind himself that she could hear most of his thoughts.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Raven can use her shields as a levitating disk. We have made shields before. Perhaps we could try it. It would be easier, yes?"

_Duh. _That would be so much easier. Ok, so he still was new to just about everything, be he had made a shield before. He should be able to do it again...if he remembered how.

"Ok, ok, ok." Dick said, a bit of rush in his voice. "Let just...and...maybe."

He was holding his hand out, like he'd done those other two times he'd made a shield. Closing one eye, he tried concentrating on that flow of energy he had felt before, but it was like focusing on one blade of grass in a field. Too much was going on around him to allow him to focus on a single task. Still, he felt a bit of familiar energy rush through his fingers.

Dicks focus lessened even more when he heard what sounded like shattering glass. He looked around for a moment, finally realizing that glass _had_ shattered. At one of the auto-shops, the display window was in pieces on the polished floor.

Dick squinted his eyes. Glass didn't just shatter on it own. His attention was drawn away again when a loud crack filled the air. He easily was able to spot the source. One of the display cars front window had a large white crack in it.

Another sound filled the air, along with another crack in the car window, and pretty soon, the entire window was gone.

It wasn't until a fake plant exploded, that Dick realized that it was him and Takori causing casualties.

Pushing the thought away, he craned his head to one side trying to focus on his original task. Maybe this was why meditation was so important.

Still, he couldn't focus. It was frustrating. He was used to being in control, being able to make his body do whatever he wanted, yet now, his body seemed to deliberately mock him. It was as if his body was getting back at him for all those years he pushed it to its limits.

He needed a focus point. Something to keep his mind on what he needed to do. Without much thought, he grabbed Takori's hand and instantly, his focus increased. Whereas before, he was looking at a blade of grass in a field, now, he was looking at a blade if grass in a small pot. It was like she gave him a magnifying glass.

He allowed the energy to flow through him and tried to focus on making a shield. After what seemed like minutes of time they didn't have, a flat shield appeared...only, it was on the other side of the room.

_How the heck was he supposed to get on __**that?**_

He felt his fingers tense up. He was running out of time. The paparazzi were no joke when they had you cornered, and being stuck on top of a car wash counted as being cornered. Whether or not the card man was in the silver truck didn't matter. Someone was still trying to get him and Takori. This was all starting to fall apart right before his eyes, and his agitation was only proving to make him more tense.

"Dick?"

Dick zoned out his mind. Right in front of him was that white disk, levitating perfectly still as if it were inviting him to get on.

Blinking a few times, Dick looked to Takori, who just happened to have one of those 'are you finished now' looks on her face. Okay, so maybe he needed to calm down. Did she really have to bemock him that way?

He climbed on quickly, just waiting for the disk to disappear and drop him onto the ground, ready to be hit by a car...again.

"Alright," Dick said, rocking a bit on the disk "How do we get this thing to move?"

He barely finished his sentence before Takori was flying, lifting up the disk from below.

The moment they reached the ceiling, Dick kicked the vent door off and climbed in. Takori followed just behind him, getting out of sight just in time. Dick could already hear the clicks of numerous cameras and the foot steps of people trying to get just _one _picture. Ha ha on them, because Dick came, got what he needed and was now on his way.

He'd be in Gotham, probably before the next morning. It was probably almost noon, the major trains left around this time. All Dick had to do was find out which one headed towards Gotham and he'd be set. He'd call Tim back, and call Nick to make sure he and the team was alright. They'd all meet up, get to the manor and figure out what the heck was going on in his life. No problem. Plain and simple.

Dick crawled through the vent as fast as he could. It let out into a dark room, big boxes were everywhere and a single latter leading to a single cellar door.

Dick turned to help Takori out the vent, but kept his eyes on the cellar door. It was the only obvious way out.

Making his way over, he tried to open it, but it seemed to be locked. Because it was over his head, it really wasn't an easy target to kick down.

"Can you burn it?" he asked, as Takori climbed up on the latter next to him.

"I will try." she said, holding her hand against the door.

With practiced ease, she blasted a green starbolt at the door. When the smoke cleared, only a black mark was left on the door. A bit agitated, she tried again. When the smoke cleared the door looked exactly the same as it did just seconds ago.

Dick could feel the tempestuousness coming off of her, so when she went to blast the door yet again, he grabbed her wrist. She whipped around at him, eyes ablaze, yet he didn't feel an ounce of fear. Just a bit of agitation that he was sure was coming from her.

"Can I help?" he asked, releasing her wrist.

When she allowed her eyes to settle down, he saw her look of embarrassment and made a point of grabbing her hand and pressing both his and hers to the cellar door.

"What do I do?" he asked a bit sheepishly.

He felt the last of her anger melt away as she giggled. It wasn't every day that he asked for help.

"Think angry thoughts." she said, her own eyes squinting at her own thoughts. "Righteous fury."

"I've heard that before." he said, smiling as he thought of something she said often.

Dick had no problem thinking angrily. Leaving his brother and team. Red X's flirting with Starfire. His parents death. Come to think of it, he was a very angry person, or at least he had a lot to be angry about.

_Just let it out, _he told himself, _its okay to be angry for a second. _Despite not having previous powers, he always kept his emotions to himself. He was never really one to cry (that time when Raven attacked didn't count), he didn't vent on anything but a punching bag (or tried to), and he _never _talked about what was bothering him. If anything, a knowing look from Nick was the only recognition he got.

He felt his hand growing uncomfortably hot, and opened his eyes. He hadn't even realized they were closed, but when they opened, he realized that everything, including Takori, was tinted in green. A bit confused, but unafraid, he focused on the feeling in his hand. It kind of felt like he dipped his hand in a hot bowl of water. Soothing yet stinging a bit as well.

Suddenly, his hand grew tremendously hot and he yanked his hand away with a yelp. Forget the hot water, he thought, holding his hand to his chest. That felt more like a torch.

He blinked a few times. Their little area had all of a sudden grown smokey.

When it finally cleared, the first thing he noticed was that Takori was staring at him, wide-eyed and disbelieving.

"What?"

She only blinked at him. Looking up, he realized that the entire cellar door was gone, with the exception of a small spot, that was strangely shaped like his hand.

Putting his hand on the last remaining piece of the wood, he realized that it _was_ the exact same size and shape. He had somehow managed to blow the door _around _his hand. How had he managed that?

Shaking his head a bit, he climbed through. A chilly wind blew, reminding him that he had never brought a jacket.

He reached a hand back inside the room, automatically, helping Takori out. She still had a look of disbelief on her face.

She couldn't believe that she had practically gave her all on that cellar door...**twice! **And yet, Dick, a novice who had never tried to use the bolts before, blasted through the door like it was made of plastic. She wasn't angry, or jealous, just...stunned. Maybe he needed less help than she thought. Although his flying skills were in great need of assistance.

She shivered a bit as the wind hit her, lifting her hair in crazy directions. They had come out on a roof. It's dark concrete, grainy and barren, with the exception of the cellar opening and a few roof generators that spun quietly.

Dick placed his foot up on the ledge and leaned over, looking down. Takori peaked over his shoulder, looking down as well. It was a long drop down...down...down...all the way to the hard concrete alley that was beside the mall.

The grey clouds that covered the sky made the alley seem especially dark. Takori poked at the spot on her arm that was covered in a ripped shirt, from their fight with the strangely-normal man from Couture.

"Alright," Dick said "I guess we should make another disk and try to get down."

"You could try to fly." Takori suggested, although she wasn't totally serious. This was a bit extreme for a second time attempt.

The look Dick gave her said it all. He was neither in the mood to plummet down levels and levels of building, nor was he in the mood to scream his head off. Takori giggled at him, how funny it was when he completely dropped a subject without saying a word.

"I do not think your last attempt was as bad as you make it seem." she said, her smirk evident in her voice.

Dick scoffed.

"I fell thousands of feet, was saved by you...and still hit my head. It was bad."

He sounded serious, but she could somehow hear the humor in his voice. He wasn't bitter about the incident, she knew. He was just choosing not to repeat it...here.

She _would _eventually teach him how to fly, and she was not taking no as a answer. He taught her how to protect herself, she'd teach him to fly. It really wasn't very hard, when you knew how.

"No cape today?"

Both Dick and Takori whipped around. They both knew that voice well. The lazy, smugness of it both calm and patient. Yet the two knew better than anyone that that voice was nothing compared to what the owner could actually do.

"Well, Dick, aren't you going to say hello?" asked the man.

Dick growled. Of course. Why hadn't he expected Slade to be here? This wasn't his day anyway, why not throw in this guy? Not to mention the fact that Dick now had a entire _new _reason to beat the guy to a pulp.

What Slade had done to Takori was unforgivable, unforgettable, and certainly hadn't left his mind.

"Quiet, aren't we?" Slade asked, his metal side of his mask looking dull with the lack of sun and light. "No matter," he continued " I have my assignment, and it _will _be accomplished soon."

Dick hadn't realized that he was still growling, but the moment Slade took a step towards him and Takori, he instinctively stepped in front of her, all growling cast aside.

"Lets not make this a difficult encounter." Slade said, his single eye narrowing "I am here on business and nothing more."

"What kind of business?" Takori asked, not daring to move from the safety of dicks back.

"Business that is of my own." Slade replied coolly "Yet, I do need a bit of help from the two of you."

"Well, you can forget that." Dick jeered, "No way are we helping you with _anything._"

"I beg to differ." Slade said.

"Beg all you want-" Dick started "but its not gonna happen. Just like you, Takori and I are on our way to take care of some business ourselves."

"Be that as it may," Slade said, clear impatience beginning to drip from his words "But I never fail a mission, today being no exception."

Without another word, Slade rushed at Dick, who eagerly returned the aggression. Takori could do nothing but stare on, offering assistance when needed. It was always Dick's or Robin's fight whenever Slade was involved. Yet today, he seemed overwrought at Slade. Almost like he couldn't wait to fight, and while Robin was a good fighter, Slade seemed to be more advanced. Takori couldn't think of a single time anyone of her friends had looked forwards to fighting Slade.

She nearly closed her eyes when Dick and Slade met, but kept them open just in case she was needed quickly. Dick raised his arm for a hit, but it faltered when he realized that Slade wasn't making any moves to fight back.

Dick's arm dropped and he took a step back, looking closely at Slade. Okay, so he wasn't fighting back. What the heck?

Dick was about to speak when Slade suddenly through a gas pellet at down. Dick hadn't even seen Slade grab any, but it didn't matter at present before Dick couldn't breathe. He backed away further, coughing into his arm. His eyes welled up with tears and his throat just seemed to constrict further. He stumbled backwards for a moment, loosing his balance.

Takori rushed at Dick as he stumbled backwards. She was nearly to him when she was yanked out her path by the arm.

Her breath caught when she realized that Slade had pulled her. She was no longer in the safety of Dick's presence. She was no longer strong.

_Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. _She told herself. She _could not _show weakness to this man. Not again. Dick needed her to be strong. She needed to stop looking at that emotionless mask. She needed to stop the trembling that was beginning in her legs. She needed to get a grip.

"And how are you dear?" he asked, much to close to her face than was necessary.

And here was the panic. She screamed, pushing against him as hard as she dared. She fired her eye beams blindly and lit her hands. She knew she must of looked horrid. Her hair flying madly around her. Her thrashing and screaming things even _she _couldn't understand. To put it simply as she liked to do: full freakout mode.

However, she was rewarded when she forced herself from him. She fell down on her face and shimmied away as fast as she could. Yes, a pitiful sight, but at the moment, she didn't care. She needed to get away. To find Dick who was...Takori forced herself to get to her knees and stand.

She spun 360 degrees at least three times but...where was Dick? She looked to Slade, terror in her eyes but even he seemed to look around. His one eyes squinted and his head slightly cocked and he turned it a bit to the right, then to the left.

"Seems you boyfriend deserted you," he said, that mocking voice of his ringing clearly in her ears "If I were you I'd find someone a little more loyal."

Takori spun around again.

_ No, no, no. He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't leave her like this. Not with __**him**__. Not like this. It just wasn't something he'd do. He just wouldn't. Right?_

"Face it, girl." Slade said "He's gone. Left. Ditched you."

"No." Takori said sternly, yet a bit uncertainly was unmistakable in her voice, and this was exactly what Slade played off of.

"He's not coming back for you." Slade said, taking slow steps towards her "He's probably glad he got rid of you."

"No." Takori said, her voice rising a bit. More out of aggravation than anything.

_ Dick wouldn't do this to her. They were best friends._

"And you know what?" he said, directly behind her "He was there that day I kidnapped you. Right outside the door, listening. He heard your cries-"

"No." she now whispered to herself. _Not him. Not Robin. Not Dick._

"-heard you pleas-"

"No." she whispered again. _He wouldn't._

"Waited for it all to end so that he could go, unharmed."

"No!" Takori screamed.

_ That wasn't the Dick she knew. It wasn't something he would do. Dick had saved her that night. Scaled a drainpipe and protected her. He had comforted her and held her when she needed it most. He wouldn't leave her like this and he sure wouldn't wait to rescue her._

Takori's fists clenched. Slade was trying to trick her. Turn her against Dick, well guess what? Failed plan.

She whipped around ready to give him a piece of her mind, but when she turned, he was gone. She spun around, looking for him or any signs of him, but stepped in something deep and fell, only catching herself in flight.

That's when she looked down and realized that most of the roof had collapsed into itself. Dust was still settling in the air and concrete blocks laid in heaps in the dark room her and Dick had come out of just minutes before.

She hadn't even realized the roof had collapsed_. Had she done that?_

She was angry, yes, but had she really caused the roof to give in like that? And where was Slade? Had he moved out the way fast enough? Had...had she killed him?

Angry tears came to her eyes. Slade was either dead or on some far away building watching her, probably waiting for to make the wrong move. Dick was gone, or lost, or somewhere. She was alone. Scared. And had no idea how to help herself. If she couldn't find Dick, should she go back to the tower and try to find her friends (if they were even alive) or try and make it to the train station? Then what? She knew she was headed to Gotham, but where? Should she try and find Dick's stepfather or maybe Alfred, the grandfather/butler?

She knew, the first thing she had to do was get herself together. She needed to get off the roof. Either someone would see and blame her (even if it was her fault) or some other villain would come and snatch her up. Bottom line: the roof was too exposed.

It took a moment, but she was finally able to lift off the ground. She flew down the side of the building and into the dark alleyway that was just beside it.

She brushed away a few stray tears and leaned again the dirty wall by some trashcans. Maybe she could try and 'call' one of her friends. Surely Raven would know what to do. Even Beast Boy would probably have a backup plan. She _knew _Cyborg would know what to do. And Blue Jay was a no-brainer.

Alright, she figured she needed to just follow through with the original plan. She'd get to the train station, get to Gotham, find Alfred and tell him everything. The presence, Slade, Dick disappearing. He'd know what to do and even be able to contact Blue Jay. It wasn't a very solid plan, but it was all she had to work with.

She took a deep breath and began to make her way towards the street and out of the alley. She then realized that she had no idea where she was going. She'd been following Dick all this time. She'd never rode a train, much less went to a train station. She flew for X'hal's sake. She never needed a train, except maybe to throw, and she certainly wasn't throwing any trains soon.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. Everything would be okay. Dick would be okay. The team would be okay. No reason to freak. No reason to cry. No reason to panic. Everything would be...

She stopped cold. Something..._something_...had stopped her. It wasn't a little voice in her head or some crazy idea. No, it was herself. Her body, her heart, her brain, her feelings, everything. They just all seemed to agree with each other suddenly. She was almost at peace, despite the world falling down around her.

She craned her head to the side for a moment. The weird-oddly peaceful feeling was still there, but, now what?

Shrugging she took another step, but she felt like she was maybe forgetting something...or missing something. It reminded her of how she felt whenever she forgot something, especially when she was rushing. That feeling of knowing you left something, but cant remember what plagued her mind.

She looked back into the alleyway expecting to find her new cell phone laying on the ground or something, but instead, a leg caught her eye. It was all she could really make out, trash cans and garbage bags covered most most of the body, and a giant trash can blocked the rest of her view. How could she had missed that?

Takori's breath caught. Her initial instinct told her to run, to not look back, call the police or something. There was a body. Here. 10 feet in front of her. Unmoving.

But her hero-instinct told her to investigate. To figure out why or at least who.

She took a probationary step forwards. Then another. Then another. And pretty soon, she was walking forwards towards the body.

She was not particularly excited to see this, but she was Starfire first and no change of clothes or environment would change that. But the moment she saw the body, she back up quickly, hitting her back on the wall opposite.

Her breathing was even more uneasy and she held a firm hand to her chest, trying to calm her over-hyper heart.

_Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe._

Unfortunately, her self encouragements was doing nothing to make her breathe. She still held her breath and refused to let it go.

_Just breathe._

She knew that mess of black hair anywhere.

_Breathe._

He must of fell when he was trying to get his balance.

_Please, breathe._

She should have fought harder to catch him.

_Don't die this way, breathe._

It was her fault.

_Breathe, idiot._

They were so far up.

_Goodnight._

She wasn't sure if she passed out from lack of air or from the shock of seeing Dick's body, but she found herself opening her eyes. She was laying on her face, her hair splattered every which way.

_This wasn't real. This wasn't happening. This was just a dream. Dick was alive and well._

Tears fell from her eyes before she even realized she had them. She slowly crawled the small distance towards him. A bit of dried blood was on his forehead, a small slither still trickling down the side of his head.

_This was wrong. This was fake. This wasn't real._

She carefully grabbed his hand, hoping so badly that he'd just reach up and wipe away her tears like he always did, giving that lopsided smile. She put his hand on her face, imagining that it was him trying to help her...but she froze, and dropped his hand. She looked at his face hard and lifted his hand again. Pressing her hand to his wrist, she smiled.

Duh.

He still had a heartbeat!

Why hadn't it occurred to her that he could still be alive? Perhaps it was the blood that was still leaking from his head. Or maybe the fact that they had been at least 20 stories up on top of a mall. Whatever the reason, it was wrong.

She could be so stupid sometimes. How could she assume he was dead, without checking for a pulse? Surely none of the other titans would make that kind of accusation. But it was times like these that she was glad to be stupid. Because being stupid meant being wrong. And being wrong meant Dick was alive.

And now for the next question:what to do now? So, she had Dick. Good. Now, she needed to get _both _of them to the train station. Easy. Well, not so easy. There was no way she could _carry _Dick there. Plus, she didn't know where 'there' was.

What she needed, was transportation. A ride of sorts. She could just go out to the street and ask one of the people driving, but getting into a unknown car was always a gamble.

She knew from experience that you _never_ got in a car when a stranger asked you to. That had happened in her first week of being on earth. 3 guys had offered her a ride back to the Tower and she had excepted. They had _seemed_ so nice and sweet. But when she got in, they locked the doors and went the opposite way.

Of course, she could easily have taken those men then, but she had been so scared that she hadn't been able to think straight.

Robin had been the one who found her (and to this day she still didn't know how.) He had single handedly taken out the three guys without _actually _getting in the car or crashing it.

He'd walked her home, pointing out places that she could remember, helping her memorize the route, and explaining 'stranger danger' and that all people weren't as nice as they seemed. After they had gotten home, he never mentioned the incident again. Despite all the questions Beast Boy had been asking. Then, he still called Robin 'sir' and she couldn't help but laugh at that now.

But now wasn't the time to laugh. She needed a ride. _Think, think, think, think, think._

Then it hit her. A cab. Of course, why was she so concerned about that? That's what cabs did. They gave people rides. Here, deep in the city, there were probably cabs everywhere.

She grabbed Dick under his arms and tried to drag him to the street and out the alley. He only budged a bit. She tried again, several times, yet he only moved a few feet. It was strange now. Before, she had been able to (and had on a few occasions) lift Dick off the ground with little trouble. She could carry him bridal style, over her should, by the foot or hand or waist. Anyway she pleased, really. But now, it was like he weighed a billion tons.

It took a lot of dragging, and grunting, and sore arms, but she was finally able to get him to the curb. She waved her arm in the air, like all the people in the movies did. She'd of whistled, but she had never been able to get the sound she wanted, she always ended up just spitting.

Within seconds a cab quickly rolled up in front of her. She heard a few shouts and curses coming from some other cabs that passed by, eying her with envy. It was like they all wanted to give her a ride.

Shaking her head, she dragged Dick into the car. The driver, a large man with a dirty white tank top with a ripped black jacket, paid no attention to her or Dick as he pulled off.

"Where to?" he asked, his voice gruff and raspy, like he had just finished smoking a cigarette.

"The train station." Takori said, hoping she had said enough information for the man to know.

This was her first ride in a cab and she didn't know _what _she was supposed to do or say. But she _did _know, she'd need money to pay for the ride.

The only problem was: she didn't have any money. She should have thought of this before she got in the cab.

She panicked for a moment. How was she going to pay for the ride? What would they do to her if she didn't pay?

She shook Dick frantically. She needed to know what to do.

Suddenly, a buzzing sounded. Takori looked around. The driver was completely oblivious and Dick was out cold.

She looked towards the floor, where the vibrations seemed to be coming from. Her hand bumped Dick's leg and she felt the vibration much stronger. Following the feeling, she found that it was coming from his sock.

With a raised eyebrow, she reaching in and pulled out his phone. It continued to vibrate. She pressed a button on the side of the phone and it lit up. A small green phone and a small red phone were the only available buttons. But which should she press?

Well, when it came to streetlights, red meant stop and green meant go. Maybe red meant stop the vibrations and green meant keep the vibrations. But why would Dick's phone want to keep vibrating?

Winging it, she pressed the green phone and waited. Nothing happened. She shook the phone a little, waiting for some fantastic light show or something, but nothing happened. Maybe it played a special song. She held the phone to her ear for a better listen.

"Heelllooo? Anybody there?"

"Hello?" Takori asked, cautiously. Maybe someone was trapped in his phone.

"Uh...Dick?" the voice asked.

Takori waited. This wasn't Dick. Surely they had to now that.

"Dick," said the voice "This is Tim. Are you there? Look dude, I really have to talk to you."

Tim! Oh she knew that voice and name, he had been the one to make Dick laugh with the message. But wait, why was Tim in Dick's phone? Was he stuck?

She needed to get him out! Maybe, that was what the red button meant. Stop, as in, stop holding Tim captive. She scanned the small screen and quickly pressed the red phone, waiting for Tim to jump out of it.

She waited a little more.

And a little more, but nothing happened.

Maybe he was sent home, instead of here.

"5 minutes." the driver said, his gruff voice filtering through the thin glass that separated him from Takori.

She needed to focus on the problem at hand. She'd talk to Dick about Tim later, right now, she needed money.

She slipped Dick's phone back in his sock when she felt something else. She reached in a little farther (and feeling rather odd going in Dick's sock) and pulled out some kind of black leather case. She knew she was invading his privacy, but she really needed to find a way to pay for the ride.

Opening the leather case, she found a bunch of cards, much like what Blue Jay used when he went shopping. Perhaps she could use the card for a cab as well, but opening up another flap, she realized that she didn't need the cards. Green bill after green bill filled the entire flap. 5's, 10's, 20's. They kept getting bigger. She knew it had to be uncomfortable walking around with a GIANT bulge in your sock. How hadn't she noticed it?

She blew out a breath, she could pay. She wouldn't go to jail or get in any trouble.

She looked over to Dick. Though his eyes were closed, his eyes danced around wildly underneath them. That was good, right?

She shook him a bit, but jumped back when his entire body seemed to spasm. She caught the drivers eye as he cast a curious look in the rear view mirror. She gave a shrug and he turned his attention back to the rode.

"Dick?" Takori spoke in his face, hoping to get a response.

His face screwed up and his body clenched a bit. Well, that was a response. She suddenly thought back to that night she had to spend the night with him. Back when there problems weren't as bad as they seemed and her only problem was whether or not Dick showing his eyes meant he actually had feelings for her. But that was besides the point.

What she was really thinking about was the fact that he _hadn't _liked when she talked so close to his face. But he _did _like when she talked in his ear, and rubbed his chest, and...and...something else...played with his hair. That's right.

Running her hand through his hair, like she had done that night, she whispered his name in his ear.

His head lolled back and forth slowly, as if he were waking from a dream.

"Wake up, Dick. Now is not the time for sleeping." she whispered.

He moaned as if agreeing to something she had asked him. Tracing random shapes in his chest, she shook him gently.

The cab stopped sharply, and both Dick and Takori flew forwards hitting there heads on the thin glass window.

"19.50" the man said, and Takori handed him a 20, not surprised when he didn't pass back any change.

"That hurt."

She whipped around, beyond ecstatic when she saw that Dick was up and rubbing his head.

"Your awake!" she yelled, not think twice about jumping on his lap and giving him a tight hug that she knew he probably wouldn't be effected by.

"I...fell asleep?" he asked, everything was still a bit fuzzy to him.

"You are not going to do the believing when I tell you of our occurrences." she, excited.

Dick opened the cab door, helping Takori out after a quick stretch.

"First," she said, clearly hyper "We were on the roof, you remember, yes?"

Dick nodded his head.

"Slade was there. Then the almost fight. Them the gas. Then...you were gone!"

"I fell." Dick said plainly, getting a horrible rush of deja vou. That fall had been _extremely _horrible. He had already been disoriented standing up, but the fall had practically made him vomit. Spinning and twirling and flipping. It made him want to vomit right now.

"And then..." Takori said, her voice low "I am, not sure what happened."

Dick knew she _wanted _to stop the story there, but now he was curious. "What happened?" he asked gently.

She looked away, her eyes focused on the station steps they where going down.

"You must believe me," she blurted suddenly, surprising Dick. "It was all an honest mistake."

Dick was about to ask what was, but she was starting to babble so bad she wouldn't of even heard him.  
>"Then the roof collapsed...and the phone...but Slade...and Tim...and..."<p>

Dick could hardly understand what it was she saying. He went down a few steps faster than her so that he could cut her off. She looked up at him and he searched her eyes, hoping that maybe _they_ could explain what exactly had happened. But all he could really see was unshed tears and red strands of hair that was beginning to fall into her face.

"What if I killed him?" she whispered.

Dick still had no clue of what she was talking about, but he walked up the few steps that remained between them and put his arms around her. She latched on tightly, allowing the tears to fall.

Dick ran a hand through her hair. He could _feel _her upset feelings coming off of her. It hurt him to see her like this.

He closed his eyes. Maybe if he opened his mind to her a little bit, he could comfort her somehow. Reassure her of his presence. Anyway to help her would be his top priority. But the moment he allowed his mind to drift, it was bombarded by images and feelings.

He saw himself standing and rushing at Slade, but the image quickly changed and he saw an empty roof with a large hole in it. It changed again and he saw himself laying in a pile of rubbish and then felt the strain as someone tried to pull him out the alley. He heard that kid...Tim's...voice and felt confusion as a image of his phone appeared.

His eyesight was suddenly back and he blinked rapidly. It took him no time to know that he had just been looking through the eyes of Takori. He suddenly felt as if he _remembered _what had happened from her view point. All the gaps and holes he had had in her story was filled in and he understood how she felt and what she was thinking. It was strange, having two opinions about the same thing, yet knowing that one wasn't actually _your _opinion. It was even stranger watching himself do things.

Takori pulled back, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had just shared her memories of the past hour or so.

"He's alive." Dick said, looking her in her eyes.

"How is it you know?" she asked.

"I just do."

Dick turned around. The train station was just a step below and crowded as ever. People rushed ever which way, pushing and shoving and screaming at one another.

He looked to Takori. She looked almost _afraid _of going into the station. He could feel her claustrophobia already. Tons of people, minimum space. It was enough to make anyone fell claustrophobic. And for a moment, he did. But he figured it was just lingering feelings from Takori and easily pushed it aside.

"Alright," he said going down the last step "I'm going to get us two tickets and-"

"I want to do it!" Takori practically yelled.

Dick stared at her for a moment. She seemed to completely forget about the tight space.

"It is earthen to buy the ticket for the train, yes?" she asked, and Dick nodded his head "Then I wish to obtain the ticket." she said.

She was staring at him with those big green eyes, her bottom lip slightly jutted out. Dick really just wanted to get the ticket and leave, but after seeing her so torn and sad and now so happy and hopeful...he really could say no. Plus, the way she was looking at him was just to much.

Someone pushed him roughly from behind, and someone else shoved him forwards. He was forced to take a few steps but Takori never backed away and he ended up being pushed up against her.

He knew his cheeks were reddening, but she still looked up at him with those huge green eyes. Being this close, their chests pushed together, Dick's breathing was short and irregular, but he was able to let a breathless "okay."

Her face brightened considerably and she threw her arms around Dick. He took a deep breath, reveling in the feeling. Okay, so it may have been mean on his part, but he was _really _loving this no-super-strength thing.

In an instinct, she let him go and was standing in front of him, those green eyes glued to his blue ones.

"Oh, right!" he said, snapping out of his trance and handing her some money "So, we'll need two tickets to the closest station you can get to Gotham. The tickets and service office is right over there." he said pointing. "Remember, two to Gotham."

"Got you." you said.

"Thats, 'Gotcha' and alright. Remember to hold tight to your money." he said, feeling like an overprotective dad.

She turned and gave a nod, making her way through the crowds of people. Someone bumped Dick hard from behind, almost sending him down. Another person pushed him backwards, hurrying behind him. Someone else pushed him back, this time sending him to the ground. He quickly got up, trying not to get stepped on.

"Takori!" he called, and waited for her to turn his way. When she turned, he pointed to the side of the station where snacks were on racks and less people where gathered.

When she nodded he made his way over to safety.

Takori was bumped roughly to the side. She lost her footing, but used a bit of flight to remain standing. She was sure no one had saw her. Holding tight to her money, she continued to make her way to the lit office. Two to Gotham. Two to Gotham, she reminded herself.

She was bumped yet again, this time harder and was sent flaring backwards and into someone else.

"Apologies." she said immediately, turning to help whoever she had pushed.

"No harm done." came the female voice.

When Takori tuned around, she was met with a pretty redhead with bright blue eyes. She had on a pair of light blue jeans and a black and pink shirt that had a picture of a baby turtle on it 'Aren't I cute?' was written above the picture.

"I did not mean to hit you." Takori said, apologizing once again.

The girl flipped her hair out her face. "You going to the office?" she asked. When Takori nodded her head, the girl looped her arm through Takori's.

"Two girls are better than one." she said, as they both fought their way forwards.

Whereas Takori apologized to the people she bumped, the girl pushed like the rest of people saying things like 'move' and 'get out of my way, moron' and 'I'm walking here, idiot'. Though they weren't polite words, Takori admired the way she held her ground.

After a moment of pushing, the girl spoke again. "I bet your from a small town where everyone knows each others names, huh."

Takori thought back to Tamaran, every _did _know her name. Then she thought back to Jump, people knew her name there too. Though she wouldn't give away anything that would say who she was, she shrugged her shoulders and nodded at the girl.

"I figured." she answered "Your too nice. I hope your not here alone. People will eat you alive."

Takori was pretty sure 'eat you alive' was a figure of speech, but she'd still ask Dick later.

"No," Takori answered "I'm not here alone. I am here with a friend."

"Ohhh, what kind of friend?" the girl asked.

Takori was honestly a bit surprised that this girl, who she had just met, was interested in her like this. They had just met, yet, the way she seemed truly interested made her want to answer. Takori had never had a female friend before. Raven was a friend, yes, but not really someone who was interested in talking. To her no less. It was kind of nice to have a female who wanted to hear about you.

"A close male friend." she answered.

"Pft." the girl scoffed "All relationships that involve a male and female always turn into something more."

"Not this boy." Takori said, a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Oh," the girl said "You like this boy dont you?"

Takori nodded.

"Don't worry," the girl said, pushing an old lady with a cane to the side "all boys are idiots. They dont know what they want until they cant have it."

Takori nodded at this. This actually _did _seem to be the case. She remembered how Beast Boy always avoided this one game. He claimed that the graphics alone stunk worse than his own socks (and his socks really did stink). But once Cyborg threatened to throw it away, Beast Boy had found a new love in the game. He had played it straight for 3 days.

"That does seem to be the case." Takori responded.

"I remember this one boy," the girl said "he used to like me, but I told him 'im to old for you' because I am a bit older, and it just made him try harder, you know? After a while, I guess I just got tired and yelled at him. He went away after that, and I haven't talked to him since."

"That seems so sad." Takori said, a bit unsure of what the story had to do with boys being idiots.

"I know!" she responded "And the worse part? I think I like that boy now. No, I know I like him, maybe even love him."

"You should find him and apologize." Takori said, feeling the sadness coming off of the girl.

"I know," the girl said "I've tried contacting him ever since he left, but he never responds. Anyway, I heard he's coming down here for a few days and im gonna try and patch things up with him. He may even stay if I convince him."

"You never know unless you try." Takori said, receiving a smile from the girl.

"Oh," she said "By the way, names Barbara. Where you going?"

They had just arrived at the office.

"Gotham." Takori responded.

"Aw man." Barbara said paying for three tickets " I hope you and lover boy knows what awaits you."

"He's from there." she responded "He knows _all _about it."

"Good because that place can be _rough, _y'know?"

"We've dealt with rough before. It should not be too horrible." Takori said, thinking back to all the situations her and the team had been through.

"Where you staying?" Barbara asked, "You seem cool. As long as you and your friend-boy aren't ax murderers or something, you guys can stay with my dad and I."

"Oh, that's nice, but we're staying with his family."

"_His _family?" Barbara asked, slapping her forehead "That sounds a lot like a 'I love you' kind of thing."

"He doesn't love me." Takori said, her cheeks reddening at the thought.

"I think you oughta open your eyes, girl. He sounds like he's in _loooove._"

Takori laughed when Barbara nudged her with her elbows. "He does _not _love me. Trust me, please."

"Does he date someone else?" Barbara asked.

"No." Takori responded.

"Does he say your _his _best fried?"

"Well...yes."

"Do you hang out a lot?"

"Yes."

"Does he take you places...alone?"

"Yes, but-"

"Does he hold your hand sometimes?"

"Actually-"

"Does he trust you?"

"...yes."

"Well, there you go. He is totally in love with you."

"He does not do these things in a way that you think. There is nothing romantic about it."

"He must not be good with talking about his feelings."

"Absolutely not." Takori said with a giggle.

"Where _are _you from? I've been trying to place it but I cant. You just have this accent that you cant miss and I cant figure it out."

Takori had no idea what to tell Barbara. Would she believe Tamaran was just a small place in California?

"I got it." Barbara said with a snap of her fingers "Your from the Caribbeans, aren't you? It would explain why your hair is _so _red and why your eyes are _so _green."

Takori just nodded. The Caribbeans. That was...where?

"Anyway I never caught your name." Barbara said "I must have dropped my manners because that is so rude of me. Sometimes I just talk, im sorry."

"It is not a problem. My name is Takori."

"Takori." Barbara said "Thats really, like, exotic. I like that. Takori. You know, we should hang out. I mean, you _can _deal with me for more than 5 minutes. I bet the paparazzi would love you. What are you doing tomorrow? See, I have this charity event that im going to and I would _love _to have a female with me that wont talk about herself all day long."

Takori scratched her neck. She wasn't expecting to be invited to a party.

"You dont have to come." Barbara said "But I thought it would be nice. We could go shopping, and you could bring...um...whats lover boys name again?"

Takori was going to say Dick, but that just seemed wrong. "Richard." she said instead.

"Richard." Barbara said "I knew a boy named Richard." she looked as if she was fantasying. "Anyway, you could bring Richard and we'd have a good time, the three of us. Maybe if _my_ lover boycomes it could be the four of us. A double date kind of thing. I swear, if you and Richard come, I'll have you both together by the end of the party."

"I do not know..." Takori said, she wasn't sure if Dick would feel up to that. She hadn't even asked him yet. "...do you really think you could get us together?" the words came from her mouth before she could stop them. Yes, she was curious, but no, she hadn't decided yet.

"They dont call be Barbara 'Cupid' Gordon for nothing." she said with a smile that Takori returned. It would take some work and convincing and a lot of nice deeds, but she knew she'd be able to get Dick to go.

"Let me see your cell phone." Barbara said, taking out her own.

Takori was about to say she didn't have one when she remembered she did. With a smile on her face, because she was doing something _earthly _and 'normal' she handed Barbara her cell phone.

"Your phones off" she said holding down a button "Oh that's why, you phones about die. Here," she said handing Takori back her cell phone "I'll just sync my number to you."

Takori held her phone, unsure what to do, when suddenly a ping sounded and the name Barbara Gordon popped up on the screen automatically saving. Barbara took Takori's phone back and called her own number.

"There." she said "Takori is in my phone. I'll text you tonight with the address and time and tomorrow we'll go shopping and get our hair done."

Takori nodded her head, still amazed that that was so quick.

"I promise." Barbara said "Richard will be all over you tomorrow. You just wait."

Barbara handed Takori two tickets and disappeared. Takori stood where she was for a moment. Ok, that had just happened _very _fast. She hit a girl, befriends the girl, gets the girl number, and is invited to a party _by _the girl all in less than 10 minutes. Wow.

Shaking her head, Takori made her way through the crowd and towards where Dick said he'd be waiting.

She spotted him immediately. He was looking around, almost frantically, but relaxed when saw her.

"Thought you were lost." he said with a nervous laugh.

Takori felt her face get hot for a second. Barbara's words were echoing in her mind. _He sounds like he's in loooove. He is totally in love with you._

Butterflies filled her stomach. Well, if they called her Barbara 'Cupid' Gordon, then she must be good. Maybe, her and Dick had a chance together. Maybe, he'd kiss her. That thought made her blush even harder. What if he kissed her? Would it be protective, like he normally was? Or would it be soft and gentle, like she was realizing he could be?

"Earth to Kory?" Dick said waving a hand in her face.

She smiled, realizing she had been off in her mind.

"The trains about to leave," Dick said with a smile "You wanna be on it when it does?"

Takori bumped him to the side, playfully and followed him to their train. She kept a eyes out for any redheads as she got on. Barbara was her _first _real female friend, besides her sister who is far from her friend nowadays. She couldn't wait to hang out with Barbara tomorrow, that is expecting that Dick would actually allow her to go to the party.

They'd talk about boys and how there idiots and shoes and clothes and kittens. Everything a 'normal' girl would talk about. They'd get there nails done and 'drop while they shop'! It would be one of her best days ever! Minus the fact that her and Dick and the team were in mortal danger.

Her and Dick walked towards the front of the train. The dirty, filthy seats were drastically changing before her eyes. They went from smelly, hard, blue seats to red luxurious chairs. Tables were in the middle of some and men with black suits on walked around asking if passengers were happy.

She couldn't understand why only some of the train was well kept while the rest was dingy and disgusting.

Dick finally stopped at seat, far away from most of the people. It was two small booths sitting across from each other. Dick sat in one and Takori sat across from him.

Dick stared out the window, looking at all the people rush by, glad to be out of there mist, when a ping filled his ears. He looked towards Takori, who had her phone in her hands.

_**B: Just got word; my guy John will b here TOMORROW! Scared to see him. He'll prob, b at party**_

Takori looked at the text for a moment before typing back to Barbara.

_**T: Do not worry. He is probably just as nervous as you are.**_

_**B: You think? I haven't seen him in yrs!**_

_**T: You should allow things to 'play out.'**_

_**B: Ur totally rt. I shouldn't sweat it. He has a tendency to smell fear.**_

_**T: Then do not be afraid. Be confident. Maybe he can smell that too.**_

_**B: That would b 2 funny. Him walking around, smelling my confidence! LOL**_

_**T: Besides, by the time he sees you, you will look amazing. Not that you dont already**_

_**B: AWWW, thnx. U will 2 for Richard, so dnt worry. We'll both look O-Mazing. Boys, watch out!**_

"What are you doing?" Dick asked, suddenly very curious

"Texting." Takori said, simply. She suddenly felt surprise coming from Dick and smiled to herself.

"_Your _texting?" he asked.

"Of course." she said casually.

Dick leaned his head to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of a name or word on her phone. But Takori caught on and held he phone to her chest. "My text." she said, ginning.

Dick lifted and eyebrow, and scooted forward in his seat.

"Who ya texting?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"No one." Takori said, feeling Dicks interest shoot up.

Suddenly he shot forward, aiming for her phone. Of course, he had to make everything a competition. Takori smiled as she held her phone back and held up her leg, keeping Dick about a knee's length away from her.

"My text." she repeated.

Dick did a quick spin around her knee and leant heavily on her chest, reaching for her phone. His arms where longer than hers and she knew it. And this is why she sat on her phone.

Dicks face dropped, as cute as it was, and slammed himself back into his chair.

"You cheated." he said, a smile on his face.

"I did not." she responded "Sync your phone with mine and I'll text you this number."

Both of Dick's eyebrows shot up as he took out his phone. "Okay," he said "You can text now and you know about syncing. What happened in that span of 5 minutes?"

Takori just smiled as her phone beeped with Dicks number. Then it beeped again. And again. And again. And soon it just kept beeping, non-stop. She held her phone away from her, as if it were ready to explode.

"Whoops." Dick said looking at her screen "I think I sent you all my numbers. You can just delete them all if you want. Except the Titans. You should keep those."

"The Titans?" Takori asked "They all had cell phones, except me?"

"Well..." Dick started, he could feel her hurt coming off. He honestly hadn't meant to exclude her in anything. "Cyborgs is built in him, Raven never uses hers, she prefers to talk through the mind, Beast Boy always looses his, you _know _I never answer my phone. Blue Jay is the only one who uses it appropriately."

Takori didn't say anything as she began deleting extra numbers. Karen Beecher. Keep, she was pretty sure that was Bumble Bee. Roy Harper. Was that Speedy? She continued through her phone when she felt Dick slide in beside her.

"I'm sorry." he said, looking at her.

She turned her body away from him a bit, hiding a small smile, keeping her mind blank. She knew what Robin would do here. He'd sit back and play with his fingers, maybe biting his thumb nail, probably feeling horrible that he had hurt her feelings. But what would Dick Grayson do? She was curious.

She knew he wouldn't back off when he leant on her trying to see her face.

"I'm sorry." he said again.

She turned her head further away from him and was failing miserably to hide her smile. She could feel him beginning to get playful, and she was having fun teasing him.

She felt him shift and suddenly caught sight of his hand snaking its way over the chair. Before she could figure out what was happening, he quickly grabbed her and began tickling her in a way that he knew made her breathless. He had quickly turned the tables on her.

She didn't care that people were starting to look, she just wanted him to stop. She tried to tell him this, but all that came out where her gasping giggles.

He finally stopped the tickling, but made no move to take away his fingers. Takori froze, she knew, one false move and he'd tickle her again. She was already having trouble keeping it in, just having his fingers on her stomach was tickling her. She let out a few strangled giggles, only making not laughing harder.

"I'm sorry." he said, and she knew he was smiling.

"Its...its...its..." she couldn't stop the giggling. Talking made it _much _worse.

"It's...its...its...what?" he said, making his fingers do light, tickles on her stomach.

She almost burst from holding in her laughter, and when Dick let out a full fledged attack, she did burst of laughter.

"It's alright!" she practically yelled, laughing as hard as her lungs let her. "It's okay! I forgive you!"

As fast as the tickling had begun, it ended. Dick laid a flat hand on her stomach, which he must of knew calmed her down immediately. She took gasping breaths, leaning back on Dick and putting her feet up on the chair. It wasn't very dainty or princess-like, but she was suddenly exhausted.

She turned on her side, resting her head in Dicks lap. He froze stiff for a moment, before relaxing and running his hands through her hair. It was so relaxing that when a _ping _sounded, she almost missed it.

She didn't sit up or discourage Dick's hand, when she turned on her phone. She kept it close to her face, so that Dick didn't see. She could feel his drowsiness too, though, and doubted he was even interested, if he heard the ping at all.

_**Sitting behind you. Saw the whole thing. Sooo cute. He's definitely in love! Looks kinda cute from behind, too!**_

That was from Barbara. A little smiley face winking was attached at the end and Takori could practically see Barbara doing it herself. She sent back a smiley face and put her phone back in her pocket.

* * *

><p>AN: How was that? Crazy outta control, or...cool. IDK. R&R (the **_Read and Review_** kind(I'm against RobinxRaven))

_ScarletDrake


	10. The Place to Go if you Wanted to Die

Hi guys! I know, you probably think this is Scarlet...but actually this is Violet, her sister. Scarlet's not feeling very well, but she asked me to post this for her. I am under strict instruction not to: change a thing, criticize, say rude or hurtful things, stay in this household if I so much as press space bar, and yada yada yada. She can be _so_ uptight, sometimes. Anyway, kickin out Chapter...what is it...10? Yeah, Chapter 10. BTW: Bryce says hi to all.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>-A Test of Faith-<p>

-TT-

Light was slowly starting to register through Takori's eye lids. The red of the veins in her eyes were disturbing her previous dream dramatically.

In it, she had been slow dancing with Robin, back at her fake-prom. It was emphatically, one of the best moments of her life. The way he held her. His masked eyes- although she could imagine him without the mask now-focused solely on her. The fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach was, unfortunately, fading now though, and she could hear hazy voices screaming back in the real world.

"This is all wrong!" yelled one of the voices.

"I'm sorry," another voice tried "But this is our last stop. Unfortunately-"

"No. This train _has _to go farther than this."

"I'm sorry, sir, but this is the last stop. I cant-"

"Do you know where we are? This is death territory!"

"Actually, this is Bludhaven, sir-"  
>"I <em>know <em>where we _are_!"

"But you said-"

"Forget it! Just, forget it."

The voices were still registering in her mind when she felt a firm hand on her arm. She stiffened in fear for a moment. _Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic._

"C'mon. Wake up, Kory. We have to get off the train now."

Takori barely had the courage to open her eyes, but when she did, she was rewarded with the handsome face of Dick. She smiled a relief-smile, but it was short lived. Something in his handsome facial features seemed worried.

He helped her sit up and gain her bearings. She looked around, realizing that the entire train was empty, minus her, Dick, and a man dressed in a uniform. He was wiping sweat from his forehead, obviously uncomfortable. He must have been the other person arguing with Dick.

"Are we in Gotham?" she asked, as Dick took her hand and led her towards the train doors.

"Not exactly," Dick said.

The sun was low in the sky, barely visible behind the buildings and smog that clouded the air. Takori coughed a bit as the trains doors swished open. Looking around, she realized why Dick was so upset.

She backtracked quickly, walking backwards and trying to make her way back into the train. If she was scared to death in the train station, she'd _really _die once they got to the street. She had no idea where she was, and no idea where she was trying to go. But she _did _know where she _wasn't _going, and she _wasn't _going another step.

"Kory, Kory, Kory," Dick said quickly, a feeble attempt to keep her _closer _than arms length. "Please, promise me you'll stay close."

"We would surely _die _out there." she said, more to herself than anyone. "It looks as if they are all at _war." _

Dick didn't need to turn around to know how bad the city was. With the sun setting, it cast a reddish glow on everything, making Bludhaven look like its proper form. This was wasn't Jump City. It wasn't even Gotham. At least in Gotham, people tried to conceal themselves when they murdered other people. At least the thieves in Gotham had _a little _respect when they stole from other people (because here, they stabbed you _before _they asked for your money). Here, screams replaced the clarity of laughter. Here, people jumped off buildings more often than people went inside of them. _Here, _was were he and Takori had to stay the night until the next train in the morning.

He felt paranoid. Didn't he know who he was? He was Robin. He could take men 10 times his size and _sometimes _hold his own in a fight against Slade. He wouldn't cower and hide. He'd protect Takori and show her he wasn't afraid. For both their sakes.

He yanked hard on Takori's arm, making her fly forward and into his chest. That would be where she would stay until he was sure they were safe. He put his arms around her, hoping to hide as much of her as he could for...obvious reasons. He had no doubt that the guys here wouldn't even think twice about stabbing him. Or shooting him. Or any other ways they knew how to kill, in order to get to Takori.

But...they wouldn't attack him if they thought he had nothing of value. Well, maybe they would. He _was _Dick Grayson, he was bond to have _some _unknown enemies. And even if he was just some nobody that no one knew, someone would _still _probably kill him.

He may have been scared out his wits at the moment, but...was he shaking? Violently? No, no, no. That couldn't be. Not _him. _He _NEVER _shook. Never.

It was then that he realized he _wasn't _shaking, Takori was. She was shaking so bad _he _was actually shaking.

"Don't worry," he said, as they emerged from the train station stairway "First hotel, no matter where, we'll stay for the night, ok?"

Dick couldn't decipher whether or not she nodded her head, she was still shaking to bad.

Yet, Dick couldn't help a small tremor himself when they made it to the street level. Not only was it still drenched in red light, but it was packed and foul smelling.

_It looked like a place Raven would send someone for punishment. _

Numerous car tires (or the few cars that actually _had _car tires) were burning, creating a horrible smell in the air. Police sirens rang out loud and clear, but gunshots over powered them greatly. The people, old and young, raced down the streets. All with different reasons; whether they were running, chasing, or fleeing, was unknown to anyone but the actual person. Screams and cries of terror retched at both Dick and Takori's hearts, yet both knew that really there wasn't anything they do. This wasn't there town. They didn't know the people or the way things worked. For all they knew, the police would start shooting at them.

Keeping his head low and Takori close, he stepped out the station and made his way down a random street. Avoid alleys. Avoid places where the streetlight is out/shot. Avoid corners. Avoid people _on _the corners. Look no one in the eye, but dont look ignorant. Walk like you have somewhere to be, but dont look like your afraid. Repeat.

Dick repeated this in his head over and over and over. The ways of Gotham had really given him some street-know-how. Only problem now? Everything here was 10 times worse than Gotham, or at least worse than Gotham during the daytime. Alleys were everywhere and extremely dark. The streetlights were _all_ out or shot. There were people on_ all _the corners. And many other problems that came to Dick's mind.

_ This was the place to go if you wanted to die. _

Dick quickly crossed a street. Who knew how many drunk drivers were on the very street he was crossing. Plus, he _really _wasn't in the mood to be hit by another car.

_Relax. _He told himself. He really needed to calm down. It was always the ones who looked nervous who normally got killed. _Remember your street-know-how. Walk like you have somewhere to be, but dont look like your afraid._

Oddly enough, staying calm was challenging. He couldn't keep his breathing right and his eyes darted to every dark spot he came upon, a clear skittish tell. He told himself that it was Takori effecting him, but deep down he knew he might even be the one effecting _her. Stay calm. You've been through worse. Would you rather have a one-on-one fight with the joker instead? Of course not._

Dick was able to keep a steady walk, but still couldn't help his nervous eyes.

Step. Step. Clack. Step. Step. Clack. Step. Step. Clack.

He listened to his and Takori's rhythmic footsteps. Its repeating pattern gave him a sense of security. He didn't want to think about how dumb that was; his shoe steps making him feel better. But they did. It reminded him that not everything had to change rapidly. Some things never changed. Like the way Takori always matched his foot steps or how this gait of walk was always leisurely to him.

_Just listen to your footsteps. You'll get through this._

Step. Step. Clack. Step. Step. Clack. Step. Step. _Sploosh. _Step. Step. _Splosh. _Step. Step. Step. Step. _Sploosh._

Dick strained his ears. The sound of footsteps were off now. He looked down at his feet. His and Takori's were still matched and had an even pace, yet, another sound caught him off guard.

He followed the sound of his footsteps with his ears.

_Keep up with me._

He thought, hoping Takori had gotten the message.

Randomly, he stepped off his left foot faster than before and quickened his pace. He could hear, a few feet behind him, the sounds of disoriented feet. It only took a moment for the person to catch onto Dick's new pace and hide the sound of his steps in Takori's and Dick's. But the deed had been done.

Someone was following him. It was time to spell things out for himself.

Option 1: He and Takori could run like maniacs; risking making a dumb move and falling prey to the person; who would probably kill them

Option 2: They could continue like they were clueless and hope the person didn't strike and kill them.

Option 3: They could try and ditch the man, yet risk getting lost on this persons turf; who would have free range to kill them.

Option 4: They could act clueless for another block and quickly run into the dingy hotel that barely seemed open.

_What should we do? _He asked himself.

_Perhaps, option 4 is most reasonable. _

Dick was more than a little surprised to hear Takori's voice in his head. It was faint, and echoed a lot as if she were far away, but they had _actually _made a connection. It was the first time they'd communicated _verbally _without the help of Raven and Dick was a tad bit psyched.

_You did promise to stop at the first hotel, yes?_

And there it was again! Her voice. In his head. Though, quieter and farther away sounding, it had happened. Meditating would probably help them get a clearer voice, but it _did _happen and he was proud of that fact.

But back to his task at hand, he had to figure out how to get them both in the hotel without letting the person following them know they were in the hotel.

Option 1: This option involved ditching Kory, so he pushed it aside. Not gonna happen.

Option 2: They could-

_He is gone. _

Takori broke into his thought train. He turned his head, as unnoticeable as possible, so that he could look behind him. Sure enough, no one was following them. In fact, the only people on the entire street was them. But really, that didn't comfort him much. Why was the street empty now?

Dick shook his head._ Just keep walking, your almost there._

* * *

><p>Blue Jay was in that all to familiar void between being awake and being unconscious. He had been in this void more often that most <em>families <em>did in a year. Which was why he knew exactly how to get out of one.

Slowly, but surely, the darkness that surrounded him was beginning to get lighter and before he knew it, he was blinking rapidly in the bright room he was in. The room was very cold and he seemed to be laying on his back, tucked in tight by a blanket.

His eye lids where heavy and he felt extremely numb, but that was expected, but the fact that he couldn't move was frightening. He couldn't feel his feet at all nor his hands nor chest. His tired eyes flicked as far as his un-turning neck would allow. Maybe he wasn't in the void of awake and unconscious, maybe he had been in the void of life and death. Had he died?

No, he couldn't have died. There was Raven, in the corner, her eyes closed as she meditated. And the green cat that was resting on his legs could be no one other than Beast Boy. And Cyborg was right beside him, sleeping in a chair.

Reality set in as he realized that he was in the Tower's infirmary. A bit of feeling came to his neck and he was able to turn it to his other side and look out the window. The sun was just beginning to set, or maybe rise, he wasn't sure.

He stared out the window for a moment, waiting for a sign that would tell him whether or not the sun was rising or setting. When he spotted the north star after a moment, he knew the sun was setting, making the _entirely_ too-white room a light blue color.

Testing his body again, he was relieved to find that he could wiggle his fingers a bit. So, he wasn't paralyzed. Good. But what had put him in the infirmary in the first place? The last thing he remembered was fighting with a group of hooded teenagers. In reality, he couldn't _really _remember the actual fight, but he knew he had fighting with Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy. He remembered watching Robin and Starfire run for the parks gate.

The teens had caught up with them and Raven had used a shield to force them back a bit. It was around that time that he and the team were attacked by a group of teens, set on killing them. Gunshots rang clearly in his mind as he tried to remember what _exactly _had immobilized him.

Blue jay wiggled his toes. They were a bit slow to respond, but soon, they were working like they never stopped. Neck? Check. Fingers? Check. Toes? Check.

He wiggled a bit more, trying to loosen his body from the numbness caused by his unconscious sleep. But in the process he aroused the green sleeping cat on his legs.

Beast Boy stood and arced his back in a classic feline way. Blue jay winced and held back a yelp as Beast Boy's claws came out a stabbed his legs.

Hoping off the bed, a still feline Beast Boy walked lightly as he made his way to a fern plant in the corner of the room. He gave a look around before lifting his back leg.

"Gross, Beast Boy! Use a bathroom." Blue Jay yelled.

The green cat jumped as high as the fern plant itself. He quickly morphed into a human, his green cheeks coloring with pink.

"Solenoid-operated Diaphragm Dreadnought Expansion Reamer!" yelled Cyborg as he woke up, his arm changing to a sonic cannon in less than a millisecond.

"Uh, what was that, dude?" asked Beast Boy walking back over to the bed.

Cyborg looked around himself, consciously turning his cannon back into his arm.

"Nothin, nothing important. Hey!" he yelled, seeing Blue Jay awake "Your awake, man."

Cyborg gave Blue Jay a heavy pat on his shoulder. Blue Jay struggled holding in his wince. His body still felt numb and his eyes extremely tired. And still, he didn't know _why _he felt that way.

He tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by Raven; who seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

"Relax." she told him "You'll break your stitches."

"Stitches?" he asked. Maybe that would explain his numbness.

"Yeah dude," Beast Boy said, silently happy that Blue Jay had dropped the whole 'cat bathroom thingy' "You've got, like, a million of them."

"A million?" Blue Jay asked.

"Not a million," Cyborg added "Just, like, 20 or something."  
>"20?" Blue Jay asked.<p>

"DUDE!" Beast Boy yelled "How come you get away with one word sentences, yet I always get insulted and harassed for having a small vocabulary?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "I think 'A Million' is two words."

Beast Boy thought back for a second, then silently counted two with his fingers, then pouted and threw himself on Blue Jay's bed.

Blue Jay winced as the movement tossed him into the air and back onto the bed.

"Yo!" Cyborg said, pointing a finger at Beast Boy "You better be careful around him for a while, or you'll break my _perfect _stitches."

"You did that?" Beast Boy asked.

While Cyborg and Raven had been help Blue Jay, he had been looking for Silkie. The little larvae pet had disappeared during the missile attack. Thankfully though, Silkie had been asleep the whole time. He probably didn't even know a missile hit the tower.

"Who else, grass stain? _You _sure couldn't so it." Cyborg said, crossing his arms.

"Well..." Beast Boy said, determined to have a comeback of his own "at least...I dont know...how to sow! Like a girl!"

"I sow skin, not sweaters!" Cyborg retorted.

Blue jay really didn't want to think about needles going through his skin. He _hated _needles. With a burning passion. That feeling of having your skin breaking and feeling something being pulled through it was enough to give him nightmares.

Cyborg's face turned into a scowl and Beast Boy laughed. "And I do _not _sow like a girl!"

"You _grandma _probably taught you!" Beast Boy laughed harder imagining Cyborg in a granny dress, wearing a white wig, sitting by a fire and knitting.

"Yeah, well, the only thing _my _granny taught me was how to drive a Mercedes Benz faster than a race car...and not need to buy a single drop of gas."

Beast Boy's mouth dropped. "YOUR GRANNY WAS LIVING ON THE EDGE?"

"Yeah," Cyborg said, proud of his grandma "She was even in a gang."

"Oh please." Raven said, looking at Blue Jay's vital signs.

"It's true!" Cyborg defended.

"Yeah," Beast Boy laughed "The BINGO gang!"

"Actually," Cyborg corrected "They were called 'The Wheelchairs Walkers' or TWW for short."

Blue Jay covered his face with his hands. It was getting very loud and he could feel a headache coming. He needed to get to Gotham. He needed to find his brother and Starfire. He _needed _to get out of this bed and get going.

Raven tried to push him back down when he attempted to sit up, but he ignored her and did it anyway. A decision he soon regretted. Immediately, his chest and stomach exploded in a bomb of hot pain. He kept the pain off his face as well as he could, but he knew the team knew it hurt. Regardless, he swung his legs off the bed.

_It was time to get serious._

"No way, man." Cyborg said, trying to get him to lay back down. "You are in _no _condition to go anywhere."  
>"Yeah, BJ, just chill," Beast Boy said "you <em>have <em>been sleep for an entire day. Give your body a break."

"We dont have time for a break." Blue Jay said through clenched teeth. The pain was spreading.

"Famous last words." Raven said. "Look, Blue Jay, you've been shot and-"

"Shot?" he asked incredulously. He hadn't expected that.

"Three times." Raven said.

Blue Jays jaw dropped for a moment, but he quickly fixed his face. No matter, he'd been shot plenty of times. Granted, he had never taken bullets _all _in his chest and stomach, but he'd manage. Dick and Starfire were counting on him.

"Just relax, dude." Beast Boy said "You saved our lives, I mean, you _were _out for the rest of the fight, but the meaning is still there. The least we could do is make sure you dont further injure yourself."

"Yeah, man" Cyborg agreed "you took our kill shots for us. Now, let us help you recover from them."

Kill shots? 3 shots? Out for a whole day? He really didn't remember much about what had happened.

"You can hardly walk," Beast Boy said "I'm sure Rob and Star are fine."

Beast Boy was right about one thing. Blue jay could hardly walk, he could hardly sit up, but this didn't discourage him. He didn't need to walk right now, he just needed to _move. _Gotham was a long drive away and he knew a long ride with the team and without his brother would be _very _long.

He took a gamble a kicked Beast Boy hard in the back. His goal was to get Beast Boy to shift into something strong. Something that could carry him. How surprised he was when Beast Boy turned into a horse. Gamble: worth it.

He quickly got on Beast Boy's back, hoping Beast Boy didn't morph back to human form.

"I dont need to walk." he said, grabbing Beast Boy's mane and riding him out the door.

Cyborg and Raven shared a look.

"They are _so _twins." Cyborg said "I think Robin even did that once."

"What did you expect?" Raven asked, her voice unemotional as always "Him to lay there and _accept _that he needs help? Not gonna happen."

Cyborg shook his head in agreement and followed Raven as she headed to the door.

Raven couldn't help but hope Beast Boy was right about Starfire and Robin. She hoped to Azarath that they would be okay. She wasn't worried that they couldn't survive (Robin was a born survivor) what she was worried about was the fact that they were being hunted down. Whoever was behind this had to be good in order to break into the tower and vandalize Starfire's room, then Robin's room (in which he had been in), destroy the elevator (which still wasn't working) and get a bunch of trained teens into their basement.

And then there was the whole presence thing. This whole situation would just be easier if Slade was here and just wanted Robin as his apprentice again. At least that way they knew what they were up against.

She opened the stairway door and began making her way down to the garage. She _really _hoped Robin was alright. She even more wished that she had been the one thrown into the situation with him instead of Starfire. Starfire was always mixed in with his business. She couldn't help but think that fate had a little hand in their relationship.

Yet, she was glad about one thing: Robin was nearly blind when it come to his emotions and Starfire was to naïve to know that Robin returned her feelings. Everyone knew it but them. Even Beast Boy could see they liked each other.

The only question she had was: how to get them apart. Robin was a workaholic, Starfire was not. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. Well no, Starfire was always able to get him out his room, besides, he wasn't even _in _the tower anymore. Robin had a habit of exploding when he was angry, and Starfire was easily hurt. Could she use that? Not really, Robin always went back to her and she forgave him.

Maybe...she could make both of them think the other was unavailable. Starfire was too nice and simple-minded to want and try and break someone else up; and Robin knew that he'd have to come to terms with his 'feelings' if he wanted her, and she already knew that wasn't going to happen. Well, the plan was maybe. She'd have to think more about it later.

"**MY BABY!**"

Raven registered Cyborg's scream clearly and flew down the rest of the steps. She slammed open the garage door, ready to fight, but saw that the garage was empty, with the exception of her, Cyborg, Blue Jay, and Beast Boy (still in horse form).

One thing she _did _notice, was that the whole room was a mess. Tools were destroyed, the walls had holes and was badly damaged, even the floor seemed to be in bad shape. The T-Car seemed _almost _fine. The back window had blown out and a lot of dirt had spread itself on the car, this was the reason Cyborg was on his knees, crying.

It wasn't until she noticed a small, circular, clear spot by the wall that she realized what had happened. The spot looked as if nothing had happened, or even touched it. It had been that spot that Robin and Starfire had formed their first shield...against her. She looked around. It had been _her _who had destroyed this room. _Her_ who had Cyborg rocking and holding his knees. And _her _who had lost control that night.

"Will the car still run?" Blue Jay asked Cyborg, who was wiping his tears.

"I think so," he sniffed "let me check and replace that window."

The team waited as Cyborg went around to the back of the car. He grabbed the big pieces of glass and put them carefully into a box. He then, with his bare fingers, carved the word R.I.P.

After putting a new window in, they all got into the car. Blue Jay held his breath as Cyborg turned the car keys. For a moment, nothing happened, but then, it purred to life as if it had been on the whole time.

Blue Jay smiled a bit. At least something was going right.

"So we taken a road trip to Gotham, right?" Cyborg said, looking to Blue Jay.

"Thats right," Blue Jay said beside him. It was weird being in the passengers seat and he couldn't seem to get comfortable.

"What are we gonna do in Gotham?" Beast Boy asked, grabbing a blanket from under the chair. He was cold.

"We're going to get help from Batman." Blue Jay told him.

"Oh yeah," Beast boy said, now completely cocooned in the blanket. "Does...does this mean your gonna tell us who you are?"

Blue Jay was silent for a moment. His brother had told him to 'trust him' when it came to that matter. But, what if they couldn't reverse the damage that came from this? What if one of the Titans accidentally let their secret out? They'd be putting a lot more people than themselves in danger. Deciding that he was just going to let Dick handle this, like he said he would, Blue Jay just nodded.

Beast Boy whooped in the back seat, doing a little cocoon dance while he was at it.

"Lets head out then!" Cyborg said, backing the car out of the garage. "We got a _long _way to go."

They entered the tunnel that took them under the water and out to the street.

Blue Jay hoped that their way wasn't as long as he expected it to be.

* * *

><p>Dick took the key the man was holding out to him. The hotel guy was tall, boney, and looked like he spent his free time walking around a graveyard. <em>Creepy. <em>

"Enjoy you stay." the man said darkly.

Dick tried to smile, but his lips weren't cooperating. He wasn't sure if the cold was freezing his lips or if he was just afraid.

He dragged Takori to the steps. He didn't trust the elevator. He ran up the stairs, Kory flying beside him, all the way to the 5th floor.

_Just get inside and lock the door. You'll be safe. No one will bomb you room. You've been through worse._

Finally, he made it to his door. It took some persuasion, but he was finally able to get the door opened. He walked in, his expectations low, only to have his expectations dropped even lower. The place was a dump. The _single _bed looked like it might be home to two or three different animals, but then again, so did the grimy carpet. The window was mostly bordered up. It was _absolutely _freezing in there. The walls were dirty and a few holes were in them, exposing the rotten wood and plaster underneath the cheep flowery wallpaper. The list went on.

Kory hugged herself, walking tentatively and watching everything closely. She turned on the lamp, letting in more light and carefully sat on the bed to remove her sneakers.

Dick on the other hand, set to work on security. If he had his belt, he'd of felt better. But he had to work with what he had.

He was quite satisfied when he was finished. Anyone who tried to get in from the door not only got a iron to the face but a mop handle to the balls as well. Anyone who tried the bordered up window got a cup full of bleach to the face and an entire (heavy wooded) chair coming full speed as well. And to think, the only string he had was thread from the blanket. Who said he couldn't improvise?

"Look, Richard." Kory said, stepping back into the room from the bathroom.

She was holding a small pile of clothes.

"I found them in the closet. After a quick wash in the sink, I believe they are alright."

Dick realized there was a t-shirt and pair of sweat pants that looked just right for him, yet he was skeptical about putting someone else's clothes on.

"I am sure they are clean Richard." she said, eying him with amusement. "I just cleaned them."

"Then how are they dry?" he asked her.

"Starbolt." she said, allowing her hand to glow for a second.

Well, that was good enough for him. He trusted her, and he was _very _ready to get out of his jeans and itchy sweater. Without another thought, he shucked his jeans away. His bare legs stung in the cold air, but seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when he put on the sweat pants. He did the same with his shirt, feeling completely liberated in the end.

He was still cold, but this was much better. A lot closer to the spandex he was beginning to miss. Kory left to change in the bathroom and Dick plugged his phone into one of the only working plugs. He plugged Kory's into another one. He still couldn't believe she knew how to text already. He thought he'd have to go through a whole process with her. Maybe not, and he couldn't help but feel like he was missing out on that.

So, they made it to Bludhaven. This was a quarter of the battle. They'd catch the early train in the morning and make it to Gotham to get help from Bruce.

Dick was still a little nervous about seeing Bruce again. Alfred, he couldn't wait to see. Barbara...? It had been such a long time since he had seen her. After all the messages she left him, she'd probably march right up and slap him in the face.

He wondered how Kory would act around her. They'd probably hate each other. Barbara was stubborn and hardheaded, whereas Kory was soft and opinionated. Kory was sweet and beautiful and Barbara was independent...and also pretty. Kory stole his heart the first time he saw her, and he had had a crush on Barbara when he was younger.

Bottom line: keep the two separated at all costs.

_ What was the chances she'd even run into Barbara? _

Leaning over, he looked in the ugly side desk grabbing a piece of yellowed paper and a barely working pen. He needed a moment to write down his thoughts. Write down what he knew and what he didn't know.

**What We Know:**

_**-Someone (probably some organization) is hunting down Kory and I **_

_**-They have numerous trained lackeys (including Slade and the Joker)**_

_**-They know our identities**_

_**-They have attacked numerous times, but only seem interested in us**_

**What We Don't Know:**

**-_Who is really behind this_**

_**-What they want with us**_

_**-Why they attack; but not kill**_

Dick felt the bed bounce and out of his peripherals saw that Kory was looking at him. She sat crossed legged and quiet, as if she didn't want to disturb him.

"Your not a dog, Kory" he said with a smile "And im much better at multitasking than you may think."

"I did not wish to disturb you." she said, brushing her hair with her hands.

"Your not disturbing me," he said, putting the paper aside "I just wanted to gather my thoughts. Im finished now though, so we can do something together."

"I ordered pizza," she said with a smile "on _my_ phone. There was a menu in the bathroom."

Dick didn't want to know _why _there was a menu in the bathroom, but he was hungry and really didn't care. He hadn't eaten all day.

"What shall we do while we wait?" she asked

Dick thought for a moment.

"We could meditate." he said "After my performances today, I think I need to."

She nodded eagerly and scooted closer to him. Relaxing himself, he held his hands out to her as if it were the most natural thing he could do. She took his hands just as naturally and both of them found it easy to let their troubles go and float.

For Dick, this was still new. His legs shook and bit and he cracked open one of his eyes. It felt as if he were falling, but without the wind and queasy feeling. He closed his eyes again.

"Should I say a mantra or something?" he whispered to Kory.

Smiling, Kory didn't open her eyes.

"You may. It helps me focus. I do not think it matters _what_ you say, as long as it helps clear your mind."

"What do _you_ say?" Dick asked, cracking open his eye, but closing it once he saw hers were closed.

"Peace, calm, tranquility."

Dick thought for a moment. He needed something to help him relax, something that made him feel peaceful. He knew _exactly _what would make him happy and calm.

"Control, order, balance." he whispered to himself.

He repeated this to himself. It actually _did _help him relax. The more he said it, the more he was able to fool himself and think that he actually had these things.

-ATOF-

Neither was sure how long they had been meditating, but Dick had the idea that it had been a while. His legs were _really _sore from sitting in one position for so long and he was more than ready to feel gravity take hold of him again.

He felt extremely well though, despite the situation. Though he was still hungry, he felt a sense of balance within his self. His emotions weren't raging or screaming at him, his problems were in order, and he felt much calmer than before.

"That felt nice." Kory said, opening her eyes back. "What about you Richard?"

Dick smiled. "It felt good to me too but, why am I Richard all of a sudden?"

"Well," she started "Dick just seems-"

"Dirty?" Dick asked with a smile.

"I was going to say vulgar."

Dicks phone went off, the default ringtone ringing loudly. He reached over and unplugged it so that he could answer.

"Hello?"

"_No. Way."_

"Uh..."

"_You did it Dick!"_

"Did what?"

"_Answered your phone!"_

"Let me guess...Tim?"

"_How'd you know?"_

"Lucky guess."

"_Got time to talk?"_

Someone knocked on the door.

"Pizza!" Kory said, rushing to the door.

Richard quickly got up after her, holding his phone in one ear and catching her in the other. She hung from his arms horizontal as he held her by her hips. No way could he let her go to the door alone. Plus, it was still security locked.

"Time to talk?" he asked Tim as Kory struggled from his grasp. "Erm...maybe. Can you make it quick?"

He heard Tim sigh on the line. "Not really."

Kory finally burst from Richards hands and began crawling towards the door. She didn't want the man to think no one was there.

Jumping, he landed on her back, trying to talk to Tim and keep her stationary, yet still, she army crawled forward, carrying Richard with her.

"Listen, Tim." he grunted struggling to keep Kory at bay and talk into his phone at the same time "I promise to call you back later. I cant talk now, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Tim said sarcastically, although clearly upset "Whatever."

Tim hung up before Richard. Laying his phone on the floor, Richard pinned Kory's hands down.

"I was on the phone." he said to her back

"I was trying to answer the door." she responded

"Are you trying to get killed in the process?"

"No," she said after a moment "Not particularly."

Dick rolled his eyes and got off of her, his meditation time had done well to keep his spirits up. After disabling his alarms, he opened the door, his body tense and ready for anything. Thankfully though, he was just met with a pizza delivery boy. Your typical nerdy, acne faced, guy that always looked as if he'd rather be somewhere else.

"19.59" the guys said, his voice bored and uninterested.

Dick handed the guy his money and grabbed the pizza, soda and cups that came with it.

"Whoa, thanks dude." the guy said, noticing the tip. "You know I never really get..._whoa!"_

Dick was a bit startled at the outburst. But then he realized that the guy was looking behind him...and at Kory.

With an annoyed expression, he slammed the door in the delivery guys face. Laying the pizza on the bed, he sat crossed legged, as did Kory. She was practically bouncing up and down, she was so hungry.

Opening the lid, Dick was surprised to see that it was covered in sausage. No mint frosting. No toothpaste. No mustard.

"I wanted to try something completely earthen." she said, probably reading his mind.

"I figured," he said grabbing a slice "but, you dont have to try so hard to fit in. I wouldn't mind if you got half of whatever you wanted."

"I know. I just wanted to see why you liked this particular kind so much. Extra sauce and sausage."

Dick smiled. He _did _love extra sauce, and the pizza wasn't that bad.

"But," she added "I did not give up on everything."

Dick realized that she had a small plastic bag with her. When she tilted it upside down, packet after packet of mustard fell out. _She probably had no idea how addicted she was to the stuff. _  
>"I'm glad," he said between bites "I and the team wouldn't want you to change yourself for anything."<p>

Kory blushed. That was a...compliment. A sweet one. It was scarce that he ever was able to say something- with eye contact- and keep his face from changing color.

Wiping her hands after her second slice, her phone _pinged. _

**B: Wuz up? **

"Richard?" Kory asked, looking up from her screen "What does 'Wuz Up' mean?"

"Hi." he answered, mouth full of his third slice "Whats going on."

**T: Not the much. Having dinner with Richard.**

**B: Ooh. Where? Sm place romantic?**

**T: Pizza in a curmudgeonly hotel.**

**B: Big words. Anyway, still on 4 2morrow? Hav u asked Richard yet? **

**T: Not yet**

**B: DO IT NOW! Then txt me back, k? **

**T: O and k**

Now was as good as time as any.

"Richard?" she asked.

Dick downed a full cup of soda. He had no idea _how _hungry and thirst he was.

"I was wondering," she continued "tomorrow, a charity event-"

"Gotham Global Angels, right." he finished for her "Yeah, I got a voice mail about it. I know Bruce'll probably try and drag me to it."

"You should go!" Kory blurted. She hadn't meant to sound so desperate, and now he was looking at her, one eyebrow raised.

"I m-mean," she giggled nervously "We should go. F-for the child-d-dren of course."

She was such a liar. Dick didn't need to hear her stutter to know that either. But, how incredibly horrible could it be? It _was _for the children and some Valerie Winslow had called and asked him to come. No doubt Bruce would go, and there wasn't even an guarantee that Bruce would make _him_ go. Yet still, he couldn't figure out why _she _would want to go. Maybe she really did want to go for the children, but then why was she stuttering?

"Maybe." he said "Bruce will probably want me to go. It may go well with keeping up appearances and everything, but, we _are _still being hunted down. We should keep out priorities straight."

She nodded eagerly and began texting on her phone.

**T: It is a 'go'**

**B: No way! Already? He thinks fast.**

**T: Where shall we shop tomorrow?**

**B: Oh, I know 15 or 20 stores. And 4 spa's. 6 hair places. And 43 different shoe stores I want 2 try**

**T: Sounds like a full day**

**B: Sounds like a lot of fun to me. U in?**

**T: Completely**

**B: Cool. Well, I g2g. My dad has som friends ovr. Yech. C u 2morrow**

**T: Bye**

Smiling, she put her phone back on the charger.

"Who was that?" Dick asked, his face serious and eyes squinted.

Kory wanted him to put his mask on. Without it, his eyes showed much more emotion, they were extremely serious.

"A friend." she said nervously.

"Friend?" he asked, one eyebrow up. "What kind of friend."

"A friend from J-jump." she said. Dick would be suspicious if she said she met a girl at the train station.

"How long have you known this...friend?"

"A while. I was never able to obtain her number, but now that I have 'the phone', I was able to acquire it when I ran into her at the train station."

"Is _she_ trustworthy?" Dick made sure he emphasized 'she'. If it was a 'he' he didn't trust this..._friend._

"Absolutely. She is one of my only _female_ friends."

So okay, maybe he was being a bit uptight, but when your constantly being attacked by trained killers, he supposed he had the right to pry a bit into her business. And now that he knew she was only talking to a girl, and not a guy, he relaxed a bit.

"You know," he said, trying to change the subject from his obvious jealousy to someone he didn't know about "If we do go to the event, your gonna need a new dress."

He figured she'd light up at the mention of dress shopping. He figured she'd float around, happy to put on a long elegant dress. But he figured wrong. She actually looked...guilty.

"You _are _planning on wearing a dress, right?" he asked. Why wouldn't she be ecstatic. Girls liked that kind of thing.

"I am." she said, barely audible.

"But...you...already have plans?" he asked, taking a guess.

"Well," she said, combing her hair with her fingers "when I ran into my friend, she told me she was going to the event also and we kind of made plans to go shopping together."

Dick opened his mouth, but she interrupted him.

"I promise she will not kidnap me-" she blurted "or steal money, or do the 'smoking' and I will call you every hour, and-"

"Kory," he said between her rant "Its okay. If you trust her, I trust her. Besides, while you shop I might be able to get some other things done. You can go if you want."

And there was the lit up smile he was waiting for.

"_Oh thank you, Richard!" _she cried_ "This will truly be something of great value to me. The 'girly shopping' has been something that has interested me for sometime and Raven rarely wants to go with me."_

"Uh...what was that?" Dick asked.

Kory blinked. "I merely said thank you for allowing the shopping pree. You heard, correct?"

"Thats 'spree' and I _think _I heard. You weren't talking in English."

Kory felt her cheeks growing red. Of course. In her excitement, she must have switched to Tameranian language. "Apologies." she said, a small smile of embarrassment on her face.

"Don't apologize," he told her "Not your fault. I like the language anyway. And speaking of the language...when do I get to learn?"

And her smile got bigger. Oddly enough, she surpassed what he thought her cheeks were capable of. Surely he cheek bones where hurting.

"Why not now." she said, eagerly scooting up towards him.

"Ok," he said a bit hesitantly but following her lead. He hadn't _really _meant now, but, anything to keep that smile on her face.

She opened her mouth to speak, but froze. Dick could tell that she was thinking about something. Probably where to start. The English language itself was complicated. Their were adverbs and adjectives and verbs and nouns and homophones and synonyms and antonyms. Too many different parts of speech really. He could only imagine how hard learning an _alien _language would be. But, he was willing to give it a try. Whats one more language to his list.

"I wonder..." she said looking at him closely.

"Wonder what?" he asked, a bit uncomfortable with her close inspection.

"Well," she said, tapping her chin "we are connected, yes?"

"Yeah."  
>"We share blood types, yes."<p>

"Yeah, but-"

"My blood is Tameranian blood. Does that not mean you are now half Tameranian?"

Dick turned his head to the side, thinking. Was he? It made a certain amount of sense. He looked down at his arms. They did have a tint of orangeness to them, but it really wasn't anything noticeable. Only his trained eyes were able to catch it. He knew his hair was still as black as ever, but, what else about him was off, he wondered.

"I...guess I am." he said, looking back up at her.

"My point," she continued "is, as half Tameranian, you have our abilities."

"I already know that, though." he told her "The bolts and flight. What does this have to do with language?"

"Tameranian females are able to gain language through lip contact."

"But im not a Tameranian female."

"But your Tameranian DNA _came _from a female. Perhaps it will still work. The DNA that would be passed on from a male would over power the females DNA if the offspring was also a male. But since you have no Tameranian male DNA, perhaps this will still work."

"How do males get language transfers?" Dick asked

"Males are able to get contact through just physical contact."

Well no, he didn't have the Tameranian male thing. He'd touched her plenty of times since the connection happened. But...what about the Tameranian _female _thing? He felt his face flush, then heat up as he realized _just _what the _female _Tameranian thing involved. Contact. _Lip _contact. His and _hers __**lip **_contact.

This was no joke. He wasn't in her mind trying to wake her up, this time. He wasn't in the kitchen, catching her as she slipped on her homemade Gogleblorg. He was here, ready to kiss her. It may have been just for an experimental language transfer, but to him...it was a really _real _first kiss. To HER. Starfire. Takori Anders. Kory. _Her. _

"Richard?" she asked.

He had zoned out pretty far, his gaze blank and his chest heaving in an odd manor. Maybe she had offended him. _Stupid alien girl. _She was always making these social blunders. From watching movies and reading countless amounts of romantic novels, she knew 'the kissing' was not a small deal on earth.

"Uh...just thinking." he replied, moments later. "Do...do you want to try it?"

Never in her life had she been so nervous to answer a question. YES, she wanted to try it, but how to tell him that without sounding desperate. She had only tried this once...with him. On her planet, everyone spoke her language, there was no reason to kiss.

"Only if you wish to try." she said.

Good. She didn't sound desperate or needy. She left it up to him. _Thank you Tiger Beat Magazine for the advise!_

"Its up to you." he responded.

Curses. And now she had to answer again. Stupid manipulator. If she answered 'it was up to him' again he'd turn it into a game, she just knew it. He was competitive that way.

"I do not think there is any harm in experimenting." she said.

Not bad. She still left it up to him, but gave a small hint that he had her consent. As Cyborg would say 'Booya.'

"Then...lets try it." he said.

Maybe, just maybe, he was as excited as she was. Maybe.

Heck yeah was he excited. Of course, he had to keep his excitement on the down-low. No way could he grab her head and just force her lips on his or something. That wasn't even romantic. Of course, kissing on a bed in a grubby hotel isn't exactly romantic either, but there were many ways he could screw this up. Butting teeth or noses. Hiccuping. All kinds of things could happen.

He let his eye lids go lazy and leaned towards her. Sure, the last time she got a language from him, she had smashed his face to hers in an angry fit of fury, but that didn't mean he couldn't take his time this time.

Kory was sure Richard could hear her heart beat. Even the air around them seemed to sense the significance of the moment. It was still and uncomfortably quiet, but she'd have it no other way.

In the movies, they promoted these 'kisses' as one of the top of list romantic acts. And here she was, doing it with Richard. Of course the meanings were different, but she could pretend, right?

She followed his lead, allowing her eyes to droop and finished closing the rest of the distance between the two of them.

Her head whirled, heart pounding even faster. Her eyes shut on there own accord. Breathing stopped completely. _Oh, what her people were missing out on. _There was no way, she would _ever _want to stop this. And yet, they would have to stop sooner or later. By now, the language transfer would be complete. But there was no way she'd tell _him _that.

She suddenly felt his fingertips brush along her face, ending up tangled in my hair. The feeling was _beyond _marvelous. His lips were soft and seemed to completely mend with her own. She hoped her own lips weren't chapped.

She felt suddenly something wet against her lips. She thought about pulling away to investigate, but thought better. She needed to enjoy this _now._ But soon, she again felt the wet something, slowly pushing against her closed lips. Whatever it was was really disturbing her happiness, but something in her, something deep in her brain (probably a bit of information from Richard) was instructing her moves, so she opened her lips slowly.

She held in a surprised gasp when she realized that it was Richards tongue. She had _never_ in her life felt someone else's tongue. Oddly enough, it didn't really bother her. Normally, she was a stickler for germs and cleanliness, despite what her friends thought, but Richards tongue in her mouth didn't bother her. Even _she _was surprised at this. She sighed into the kiss and began to move her tongue in the same manner that his was moving and the two began a slow tango.

He tilted his head, deepening the kiss in a way that just _could not _be earthen. His kiss was soft, easy, and delightfully sensual. Slow and moist. She couldn't help but allow her own hands to rest on his shoulders. They massaged for a bit, before wrapping themselves around his neck, drawing him closer.

It was a slow, deliberate exploration of each other. She truly had never felt so calm and peaceful. This was heavenly. He made her feel wondrous, satisfied, and deliciously attracted to him. Every feeling revolved around him, every random thought process threaded around his name. She never wanted this moment to end, and it seemed neither did Richard. He made no move to pull away from her, to stop his exploration of her lips with his. There were new sensations in every movement.

Unfortunately though, both needed to breathe. Richard cursed himself. He could normally hold his breath for much longer than that but, what could he say, she took his breath away. He rested his forehead against hers.

_That. Was. Amazing._

Utterly, freakin', amazing. How on earth could he not try and pursue that? Anyone with brains would use this moment now to say something. Anything along the lines of 'I love you' would do just fine. He was on the verge. Close to letting the words slip from his mouth. But he stopped himself. Years of holding back, of being drilled in with the false knowledge that 'dating a teammate' was bad, had done him sour. He couldn't do it, couldn't let himself put her in danger. Couldn't let himself be happy.

"Did it work?" he asked, separating himself from her.

If he didn't, he was bond to kiss her again, and then what would his excuse be? It was hard enough looking at her flushed face as she tried to catch her breath. He knew he hadn't needed to take it that far with her. Really, he hadn't meant _or _planned to. It just...happened. That kiss she had given him for the language transfer when she first arrived on earth had only been about 5 seconds long. No tongue. No hair. Just force. And yet, she responded perfectly to him now. He knew this kissing thing was knew to her, but she kissed like a pro. She allowed him to dominate, which he liked, and the little sigh she did when she allowed his tongue in was positively _earth-shattering. _

He was surprised the room was still in tact. Their meditating must have _really _done them good. Or at least that's what he had thought, until he gave a _good _look around the room. He realized that the pillows that had been on the bed was now in 20 different parts of the room...in a million pieces. Stuffing and fabric lay in small groups as far as the room went. The yellowed lamp shade was now 14 different pieces of lamp shade and the carpet itself looked as if 50 men had hit it with sledgehammers.

_Eh, it was worth it._

"Poate ma intelegi?" she asked.

Alright. Focus time. Poate ma intelegi...meant...understand...me...c...can...you...can you...understand...me...?

"Cred că da...?" he asked, uncertainty laced through his words.

Yet, he knew he was at least on the right track. That...or Kory like floating off the bed, her eyes extremely wide and happy and squeezing him in hugs. The hugs though, he knew she liked...for he liked them too.

"Acest lucru este minunat!" she said, excited "Aveţi posibilitatea de a vorbi limba mea acum, ca TI-O pot spune a foarte agitat EU sunt ca tine si pot comunica ca aceasta, atât în limba mea si a ta."

_You are able to speak my language now, as I can speak yours. How extremely excited I am that you and I can communicate like this, in both yours and my language._

She was rambling...and he was following every word of it. He heard it, understood it, and loved it. It was like there own secret language. Of course he knew, speaking was a lot more difficult than listening, but he was assured she'd help him through it.

Stifling a yawn, he checked his phone. **12: 47 am. **It was getting late, and they had a full day of traveling. Catching the early train, he figured they could get to Gotham sooner. The sooner they got there, the sooner they could leave. Really, he didn't even want to go, but it was too late now. The team were probably already there depending on whether or not they drove all night.

Seeing Bruce again. Not on his list of things to be excited about.

"We should get some sleep." he told Kory, as she stretched her arms up, yawning. "We have to get up early, today."

She nodded her head, crawling to the head of the bed and between Richards legs and onto his chest, like she had been the first night they had shared a bed.

Dick froze, a little uncomfortable. _You've done it before. _He told himself, _no big deal_. Shaking his head, he reached over, turning out the lights. He smiled, his lips were still tingling from the kiss. He was laying on a pillow-less bed. The hotel room was a horrid mess. It stunk. The creepy graveyard man probably had camera's; watching him as he slept. He and Kory were in mortal danger. And yet, he was going to sleep a happy man.

"Noapte buna, Richard." she said, drowsily.

"Goodnight, Kory."

* * *

><p>AN: Well, how was it? Personally (as Violet) I know my sis said not to criticize, but she could do better. Seriously. She is a really talented writer. I just think she could have added a little more..._oomph. _I did like the kiss scene though, very cute. I luv my sis tho, just need to add. She tells me to say the ever so cliche "**_Read and__ Review_**" but I think you guys already know she wants that.

PS: MY sis wanted me to apologize for her. Her Tameranian isn't exactly "up to date", she's sorry. All she really did was translated English to Romanian. She figured it would be cool. Tameranian is actually Romanian in the story. Richard is Romanian. Get it?

As a first time FanFiction visitor, I hope you treat my sister with love and respect. If you dont, I'll tell Bryce, Xavier, and Ryan. They **_will _**find you. LOL, JK. Scarlet will kill me for the random extra's, but I DON'T CARE. She threatens to kill me on a regular basis, so HA Scarlet! HA!

Peace Out,

_Violet/ScarletDrake


	11. Kinetic Energy

I am so sorry peoples. I had to take a little mini-cation with my gradma and she's one of those old-fashion-no-internet-family time type of people. But, I got this out as soon as I could.

I wont delay you this any longer. Plz keep reviewing. I swear they make me type faster.

* * *

><p>-_-ATOF-_-<p>

-TT-

"Shut. That. Crap. Off." Raven growled. "If I have to meditate in this car full of boys, it will be in utter silence."

Blue Jay flinched. They hadn't been in the car for more than a half an hour, and yet Raven was already threatening to throw the entire car into a ditch. You'd think that driving at night would lull everyone into a peaceful mood, but with Cyborg playing his rap music loudly, peace was not in the air.

Cyborg was opting to drive all night, his in car plugs allowed him to charge and drive without the need for sleep. Blue jay thought that was both cool and reassuring. He'd feel better sleeping if he knew someone else was up, and he felt extremely tired.

His injuries were far from finished healing, resulting in making him very tired. But, being in a moving car helped ease him a bit, and when Cyborg (reluctantly) turned off the loud rap music, he almost instantly went to sleep.

Beast Boy though, seemed unable to sleep. He danced a bit in his seat, took numerous bathroom breaks, hummed to himself, and whined about the length of the ride. Everyone knew Beast Boy wasn't one to sit still for very long, but his childish antics were cutting everyone's nerves.

"I hate this quiet." he said, suddenly. "I cant concentrate with no noise."

Blue Jay really couldn't work out in his head how that could be, but no one objected when Cyborg turned back on the radio, opting for the news channel on low. Raven didn't growl and Beast Boy had his noise. Everyone was happy.

_**And we'll go back to you, Gloria, with the latest news on the Hastened Grayson.**_

Blue Jay reacted before he knew what was even on the radio. Pressing a few buttons, he turned the radio up as loud as it could go.

"Yo, man." Cyborg said, slapping Blue Jay's hand "Stop pressin buttons. You gonna-"

"I thought," Raven said, her voice louder than Cyborg's "I told everyone to keep the noise level-"

"Ow, dude!" Beast Boy's yelled "My ear drums. I was, like, right next to the speaker thingy and-"

"SHUT UP!" Blue Jay yelled, shutting everyone up quickly. "Let me listen."

Raven's eyes widened for a moment, Beast Boy turned into a possum and hid further inside his blanket, and Cyborg flipped his eyes back onto the road.

_**Thanks, Rochelle. Earlier today, a Grayson was seen exciting the Jump City Mall with local girlfriend, Kori Anders. Reporters say, they thought it was the ever-so present Nick Grayson, as he is often seen, shopping with friends. When the Grayson reported that he was indeed, not Nick, but Dick, he was ambushed by local fans and reporters.**_

_**Just moments earlier, a mysterious bomb incident had caused the malls escalators to collapse. Two women was hospitalized, but are said to be stable, and on their way to recovery. **_

_**No further news of where Dick has been or why he suddenly showed up now. Witnesses and local pedestrians are strong in their belief that Dick had nothing to do with the collapsed escalator, but police and investigators are looking in to it. He has yet to give a statement, disappearing suddenly after the chaos escalated.**_

_**We'll have the full story tonight on the eleven o'clock news. And back to you, Rochelle with the weather and traffic for tonight. **_

"If you ask me," Beast Boy said, when he was sure Blue Jay had heard what he wanted to hear "I think Dick Grayson probably _did _do it. The rich kids are always the ones who are behind the mess."

Cyborg turned down the radio, nodding his head. "Yeah, BB. Don't trust no one who shops more than 3 times a week. That just spells bad news."

"Don't judge," Raven said, finally giving up on meditating "He may not have been the one behind this. He could have been set up."

"Doubt it," Beast Boy argued, "That _DICK _of a guy and his brother are nothing but spoiled kids. You know they came from a circus?"

"There's nothing wrong with the circus." Blue Jay said, his voice low. This was an _exceedingly _horrible conversation to be having. Not to mention the fact that the team was insulting him, his brother, and their entire heritage.

"Circuses," Raven scoffed "Hate them. Their dirty and loud and nothing but a joke. Whats so great about flying around in tights?"

"_We _do it." Blue Jay snapped at her. It infuriated him to hear how shallow the they were being. They had no idea how _hard _the performers worked and how _serious _they all took their jobs.

"No, _we," _Raven responded "Save lives. _They _make fools of themselves in front of people with no lives."

"They do it because they want to _entertain." _Blue Jay said, crossing his arms.

"Dude," Beast Boy said "I dont know why your getting all defensive. Those circus people are jokes. I mean, I love a joke as much as the next guy but, the circus people are like, at the bottom of the food chain."

"Those Grayson kids," Cyborg added "Are nothing but _lucky. _Had that Wayne not of been at that show that night their parents died, they'd be in some orphanage or something."

"What happened to their parents?" Beast Boy asked

"I dont remember," Raven said "Something about an accident. I think the equipment broke or something, and they fell from their trapeze ropes."

"I bet Dick and his brother did it themselves." Cyborg said, shaking his head "Probably planned the whole thing."

"Thats not true," Blue Jay said, joining the conversation again "How would you know?"

"I dont," Cyborg said "I'm just saying. I've always hated the acrobats and the trapeze people. All phonies."

"They do what _I _do." Blue Jay said.

By now, he was ready to explode. It was times like these when he was _glad _he didn't have powers, because surely, he'd accidentally kill some people. How could the team, his _friends, _his _only family, _talk this way? Granted, they didn't know they were talking about him, but they could have some respect. If anything, they could have at least said 'well, I _am _sorry they lost their parents', some kind of pity, _anything. _

Normally, he didn't _want _any pity. He didn't need to be looked at with those sad eyes and horrible _'fake' _words of sorrow he used to hear as a child. 'I'm _so _sorry for you lost', 'Aren't you brave?', 'If theres anything we can do-'. Blue Jay, and more importantly, _Nick_, was tired of those lines. He already knew what he had lost, he didn't need to be reminded every second of the day. Him and his brother were practically alone in the world. He got it, no need to expand on the thought. And with the team, his _friends, _bashing and insulting his other identity, he really felt as if he were alone in the car.

"No, dude," Beast Boy said "what you do is, like, _awesome. _I mean, you help people with your cool ninja kicks and-"

"Ow," Raven said and Blue Jay could tell that Beast Boy had been trying to act out his abilities and hit Raven in the process.

Blue Jay slunk down in his seat, allowing the team to talk all they wanted about his brother and him. About his parents. His life. He was the leader in his brothers absence, but he made no move to command an end to the conversation. They could say what they wanted to. If _they _thought this about him, what did other people think? He hadn't chosen this life, he was thrown into it. He had excepted his past when denial was no longer an option, but he was always able to push it aside. Now, with a new perspective of his life, he wondered just how horrible he _actually _seemed.

Kory cracked open her eyes. White filled her vision and she breathed in the scent that was clearly Richard. She could tell him apart from anyone. She flinched, scared, when Richard took a deep breath. She waited for him to relax before moving a bit, only to remember that his hands were locked together.

She traced random shapes in his chest until he relaxed enough to allow her to slip under his arms. Standing up from the bed, she looked around the room. It looked a horrible mess. She had wondered a bit about where the pillows had went, but now she saw, they went _everywhere. _They lay in clumps and heaps all around the floor. The lamp that had that ugly yellow shade was shredded to pieces in every part of the room that it shouldn't of been in.

She was headed to the bathroom, when she heard Dick's phone ring. Its loud tinkling ringtone was loud enough to wake anyone. She rushed over to it, hiding it in her shirt, trying to dim the sound before it woke Richard. He usually woke up early, but when he _awaken _by something else, he tended to be in a sour mood.

She ran into the bathroom, closing the door quietly. Looking at the phone, she realized that the name TIM was on the screen. Now that she knew how the phone worked, she knew Tim wasn't _actually _in the phone. Surely Richard wouldn't be cross with her if she answered the phone to Tim. She had spoken to him before.

Pressing the green phone button, she placed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"_Uh, this isn't Dick, is it?"_

"No, this is Kory."

"_Kory? Is this Dicks phone, or wrong number?"_

"No, this is Dicks phone."

"_..."_

"..."

"_Could you put Dick on the phone?"_

"He's asleep right now and I wish not to wake him. Perhaps you do the leaving of a message with me?"

"_Leaving of a...? Uh, no thanks. You mentioned your name-"_

"Kory."

"_Right, Kory. Is this, Kory as in Anders as in Starfire...or am I totally off with that accusation?" _

Ok, now she was a bit scared. What happened to secret identity? Oh, Dick was going to be angry with her.

"Why is this any of your concern?" she asked, nervously.

"_Hey dont sweat it. Your like, the 20th person I've gotten so far. Believe it or not, I figured out Batman first. Dick was easy with Batman done. Some of these guys need new identities, their secret ones stink. Just one look at Clark and you know he's not a normal reporter. The guys got like muscles **on **his muscles, yet he plays a wimpy nerd. I'm still working on Hawkgirl. I mean, Shyera's not an easy name to track, you know?" _

And he kept talking. Half of these people, Kory didn't even know about, but Tim just seemed so open about everything. She could have been some evil person, and yet Tim was giving away secret identities. If Bruce was anything like Dick said he was, he surely wouldn't like Tim talking like this over the phone.

She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, picking at the scab she had gotten from the 'Card Man' back at the mall, still listening as Tim talked about how tricky Shyera's name was and how he was planning on getting it.

"_Unfortunately, Batman hasn't really taught me 'the art of the hacker' yet, so getting into the Watchtower database is definitely a no. And the batcaves computer is just as guarded, if not more. I guess I could just try and find some kind of physical hint, y'know like, what person on the street or news had a lumpy back or something. I mean, she has wings. You cant just take them off at the end of the day, there has to be some kind of recognition. Falling feathers, itchy back. That kind of stuff. Do you think-"_

Kory was learning two things about Tim.

Either he was lonely or he needed some friends and,

He could _really _talk. Quite intelligently actually.

Kory had studied the kids of earth, and they really weren't much different than the kids from her planet. Of course, the kids on her planet could fly, but she saw that when the kids here on earth were on the 'skateboards' they looked much like a person would flying on the ground.

But never, had she talked (or listened to rather) to a kid as intelligent. His voice and words were still that of a child, but even from her position, she could feel the air of confidence around him. That cockiness that just said 'I know way more than you' and though he probably did, he kept his cockiness to nothing more than a smug-like attitude. He reminded her of Richard.

Richard was completely cocky, but never really exaggerated more on that. He smiled smugly when he prepared to fight someone he _knew _he could have pinned in seconds. Though he kept his comebacks and insults to a minimum, she could tell when his bit his tongue, holding something back. She could hear him as he chuckled to himself at something he was dieing to tell a villain. It was the way he was, the way he held himself, even the way he walked: head high with no fear in the world.

She had never seen Tim before, but she could imagine him, walking in a way that made other people feel the urge to make room.

"_And the other day, Batman and I chased this guy, The Creeper, all the way to Star City. I mean, the guys a psycho and everything, but he normally just looks for Harley Quinn, Jokers girlfriend. So, we chase him to Star City and you'll never believe who helped us take him out. **The** **FLASH. **At first I was just standing there. I mean, Batman's cool, but he doesn't laugh or joke much, but that was all Flash did. It was the funniest fight ever."_

She couldn't believe he was still talking. She didn't even think he took a breath. She stood from the floor, phone still to her ear, and ran some water in the sink. It seemed clean enough. She dropped in one of the complimentary toothbrushes and lit her hand green, boiling the water and toothbrush, just in case.

She was about to grab her toothbrush, when her head seemed to suddenly explode with pain. She didn't even have time to gasp before she was plunged into darkness.

Something was off about this darkness though. She wasn't scared and she actually felt almost _conscious_.She realized she was actually standing up and looked around herself. Yet, all she could see was darkness. A far off voice was everywhere, making her flinch as she remembered that time Raven had attacked her and Robin. But, the voice she heard wasn't Raven's, but a boys and she had to guess it was Tim's voice she was hearing. She tried to find the source of his voice, or at least where it was coming from, but she couldn't find any stronger points of his voice.

"Tim?" she called into the darkness, her voice echoing around her.

Without warning, the darkness began lifting. She expected herself to be back in the bathroom, but found that she was not. Instead, she was in a light blue room. His vision was fuzzy around the edges, but she was to make out the bleakness of the room. A neatly made bed stood tall and extremely large underneath of a opened window. She could nearly _feel _a cold wind as it pushed into the room, and though it was cloudy, it lit up the large area. Next to the bed was a tall book shelf, filled to the rim with books and on the other side of the bed was a small nightstand, plain, black, and simple. Across from that was a desk, nothing but a lamp, paper, and a computer lay on it. Besides that, nothing else occupied the room. The carpet was clean and not a speck of dust lay around. It reminded her of Richards room.

It wasn't the desk, nor anything on it though, that drew in her attention. What drew her in, was the boy that sat in front of it, staring at the computer screen, face lit and cheerful as he ran his mouth on a phone. He had dark black hair that was spread in every direction, falling into his eyes and all over his face. His face was rounded and heart-shaped, his cheeks clearly full of receding baby fat.

He was smiling, his large, _very blue, _eyes searching the screen at lightning speed as he typed just as fast. He was a cute kid, and actually, very proper looking. His back was strait as a pencil as he typed. Though his hands were moving faster than her eyes, his wrists never swayed once. He rolled his eyes at something he was reading, but his mouth never stopped moving.

Oddly enough, she could still hear Tim's voice as he spoke to from outside of this place she was in.

"_I'm still not allowed to actually fight, but watching the fight was just as awesome. And then, towards the end of the fight, this kid comes out. At first I thought he was just, like, some Flash fan, but when he started running, he was like...The Flash. Totally going the speed of light. I've researched him already, he's called Kid Flash. Real original, right? I'm on my computer now looking at some info, im pretty sure I've got his mentor, Barry Allen, but im not so sure about him. I've got a hunch, maybe...this Wally West kid. Fits the description and everything. Cocky, loud; just how I remember him. Ginger headed, freckles. I dont know, I think this might be him. Anyway-"_

Kory held her head, she had another splitting headache. Closing her eyes tight, she held in tears. How many times did she need to endure these head rending pains?

And just like that, the pain was gone. She cracked open her eyes a bit, jumping when she saw eyes looking at her. She relaxed when she realized it was just herself, looking in the cracked mirror of the hotel bathroom.

This was really weird. Did Raven have to go through this kind of stuff all the time, too? Obviously, she and Richard hadn't meditated enough. That mind flash, in which she assumed was her watching Tim as her talked to her on the phone, was not only painful, but utterly confusing. Was that what someone else saw? Did her mind actually travel around the world (or to wherever he was) to see him? Was that even him?

"_Are you okay?" _he asked

"Huh?" Kory said, just realizing she hadn't been listening.

"_I said, are you okay? Your breathing really weird and heavy."_

"Oh," she said trying to think of away to wave him off, "I...m-merely s-saw a b-bee. T-tried to be s-still is all." the stuttering, she could have done without. When was Richard going to teach her how to lie?

"_Ooo-kay," _he said, clearly not believing her lie._"But really," _he continued, _"What do you think? Am I wasting my time trying to figure out who she is, or should I keep digging?" _he asked,

"I think," she said, taking a moment to figure out a open answer to his question "I think that you can never waste time searching for what is the truth. If it is something you feel would be of need in future or something that would make you happy, I say, do the going for it."

"_Do the going...oh, okay. That makes sense. But what about Martian Manhunter. He's a complete alien. It would be **beyond **a challenge to try and get his origins down. I mean-"_

Kory brushed her teeth with her cleaned toothbrush, careful not to spit on Richards phone. She looked to the door; he was up now. She could feel it. She could practically see him; stretching, yawning, sitting up, looking around himself, noticing she was gone, having a small panic attack.

3 sharp knocks came to the door and she went to open it. She smiled as he visibly relaxed after seeing her. He cocked his head to the side for a moment, looking at his phone in her hands. He looked at her, his eyes slightly squinted and a questioning look on his face.

She wordlessly put the phone to his ear and left to get dressed. She doubted Tim would even realize she was no longer there. Dick noticed immediately who was on the phone. The smart mouthed, yet intelligent, Tim Drake. He was currently talking about something totally unintelligible.

He closed the bathroom door, giving Kory the actual room to change her clothes, and made his way to the sink. If he didn't brush his teeth soon, his own breath would be what took him out. Not Slade, or joker, or Cinderblock.

He noticed the toothbrush Kory obviously used, it was clean and pink. He found another one, sitting on the counter. It was blue and utterly disgusting looking. Dirt and filth lay all over the bristles. Something green was on the handle and he had no intention of touching it.

The simplest was to clean the brush was to boil it. With no kitchen supplies, he supposed the sink would have to do. Closing his eyes, he tried the move the toothbrush into the sink. He really didn't want to touch it. He had never attempted to move anything with telekinesis, but he had to start, or at least practice, sometime. Opening his eyes, he saw the brush was shaking.

With renewed confidence, he expelled a little more force, this time resulting in a cracked mirror. He jumped back, the loud cracks the mirror gave startling him. He shook his head; it was to early to scare himself to death. He plugged the sink, and conservatively put the dirty toothbrush in the water .

"_-let alone Gotham. I mean, what if someone like Wally ends up going to Gotham Academy or something. What would I do then? I guess, he wouldn't even be there, since he lives in Star City, but you never know, I mean, that Barry guy; totally unpredictable. And you know what, I think he likes it that way; makes people stay on there toes...kind of like him, right?"_

Holding the phone between his shoulder and head, he focused his attention away from Tim, who was talking about some other random thing, and focused more on his anger. Righteous fury. He needed to get this sink water up to a boil without disintegrating it and making it evaporate.

Thinking about his whole situation, anger came easily to him. He just had to learn to channel it to his hands.

In no time, his hands glowed a pale green color and he felt a familiar heat and lowered his hand into the sink water. Tiny bubble came up around his hands, tickling them. Thinking about his parents, he unintentionally brought to much power to his hands, making the sink water explode out into a waterfall of hot water.

The water went far up into the air...then fell down and onto his head, soaking him in its warm grip. He growled to himself. _Great._

Kory didn't even bother knocking on the bathroom door. He was angry about something, but he wasn't on the toilet or something. With his clothes from the day before under her arm, she went in, a small smile on her face. Feeling what he was feeling was actually...fun. Yes, this whole situation was nothing short of a curse, but really, being connected to him wasn't even close to the worst part. She understood him a lot better than she ever thought possible.

Normally, he was a closed person; angry most of the time and way too focused. It took her months just to get him to talk to her. When he finally did open up to her, she had been ecstatic. It was only now that she realized, she had barely scratched the surface of his _actual _personality. He wasn't as focused as she thought, he was just concerned about his tasks. He really wasn't as angry either, just frustrated with himself, mostly.

He was one of those people that was judged easily, yet probably one of the best people to get to know as well. He was a lot sweeter than most people thought him to be and hardly anyone got to see that side of him. From his past story, she realized that Nick and Alfred were really the only ones who were able to get past his outer shell. She was grateful she was one of the people who was getting to _really _get to know him.

She walked across the small bathroom to where he was standing and took the phone from between his cheek. He was soaking wet and she knew perfectly well why. A brighter smile on her face, she laid down his folded day clothes on a dry part of the counter and turned to walk back to the door. He was still scowling at the sink when she closed the door behind her.

"_I mean, is it wrong to still hate the guy? He **did **steal my chemistry textbook. I know im not even really supposed to be taking the class, but hey, im advanced. I really just wanted to jump up and give the guy a triple back kick to the face, but Bruce says I cant fight in school or show any martial arts abilities. I think that's dumb, plenty of kids take karate. I could just do judo or something. But nooooo, Bruce insists that I take these hits and pretend like im a coward or something, but I swear, if Jesse comes at me one more time, im knocking his face off and taking a few of his teeth as souvenirs."_

"Violence," Kory objected, finally getting back into the conversation "Is never the answer-"

"_Did you **really** just say that? You fight practically every **day!"**_

"Well," she said, thinking, "I guess I am not the one to enforce this law, I just heard it on a television show."

This caused Tim to crack up laughing and Kory couldn't help but laugh too, even if she wasn't quite sure why it was so funny. His laugh was just so contagious; high pitched, crackly, and completely childish- almost teasing-like.

Dick came out the bathroom, hair still wet, but he wasn't angry anymore. Plus, hearing Kory laugh was enough to brighten his day. She was sitting on the now made up bed, laughing on the phone at something Tim probably said. Clearing his mind, he was sure he could hear Tim's own voice in his head, yet, he couldn't focus in to Kory enough to hear exactly what it was she was hearing. All he heard was Tim's dull laughing.

Walking towards her, he grabbed her phone from its charger and checked the time. 5:34am.

He was pretty sure the train didn't leave till 7 so he took his time putting his shoes on and finishing getting ready. Today was the day. In probably just a few short hours, he would be face to face with Bruce again. He'd introduce Kory to Alfred. Show the team his true identity and life. Find out what was going on in his life. _And..._to top it all off, stay away from anyone, besides Kory, who had red hair and a name that started with Barb.

Oh yeah, it was going to be a _great _day.

"Ok," Kory said, still giggling "Goodbye Tim."

She closed the phone and handed it to Richard.

"He is delightful, Richard," she said, following his lead and putting her sneakers on "You should talk to him more often."

"I think he talks _too _much, and waaay to early in the morning." Dick noted, looking at his phone history and seeing that she had been on it for over an hour.

"He has much to say," she countered "and probably barely anyone to share it with."

"What I still dont understand is exactly _what _it is he wants. He calls me practically every day with the the line that he has something important to tell me."

"Perhaps you will do well to listen to what he has to say." Kory said, braiding her hair to the side. It was in need of a wash and she didn't want to look at it in its current condition any longer.

"He talks about absolutely nothing," Dick said, his attention drawn to the way she braided her hair with little regard. "To me it sounds like mindless talking. Babbling even, like Beast Boy does. Its useless trying to even figure out the point."

"I think," Kory said, pushing the finished braid behind her back. "That if you took the time to listen to what he has to say, you will find that his talking is not as useless as you may think. Whatever it is that he has to tell you means a great deal to him. I, for one, feel that the level of importance varies from person to person. If it is important to him, it is important to me." She was getting a bit fed up with Richard. How could he dismiss Tim so quickly? He had never even seen him?

"But you dont even know him," Dick said, standing up from the bed, his own anger growing, "He's a kid with valuable information on us. For all we know, _he_ could be the one behind all of this."

He was dimly aware that a few things in the room were glowing black; some floating, others making odd sounds as they were stretched in wrong directions. He couldn't understand her. This Tim kid was a threat, just like every other person who had been in contact with them within the last few days. For all he knew, the call she had taken could have been being tracked at the very moment. Tim probably wasn't even a _kid; _he was probably some old man planning to take over the universe.

"No," Kory said, standing up in front of him and poking him in the chest, "I do not believe that. Tim is not the one behind this."

"How can you be so sure?" Dick asked, his voice rising and his eyes squinting. "We've never met Tim before. Never seen him. He _knows _more about us than anyone else. For all we know, him and Slade are in this together."

"I just..._know!_" Kory said, throwing her hands up. How could she explain how she saw Tim; and that he was just an innocent child. "I trust him."

"I dont trust him. The only person whose ever guessed me right was Slade."

"We already _know_ Slade is not behind this," she said exasperated.

"Did he tell you that while he was raping you?"

Everything that had previously been encased in black blew up and he instantly knew he had said the wrong thing. He swallowed, the anger melting away just that quick. Her eyes widened and she turned her back to him, her braid coming out with the lack of something to tie it. He couldn't tell if she had folded her arms or was just holding them around herself, her hair cascading around her protectively. He looked to the floor and around at the trashed room.

Really, it didn't even look like a room anymore. When they had first arrived, it had been bad. When they had kissed that night, it had gotten worse. But now... it was horrendous. As was the tension in the room. Even when he tried, he couldn't get a clear read on her emotions.

"Takori..." he said, taking a step closer to her. She tightened her arms around herself, but she didn't bolt to the bathroom either.

He walked towards her, his steps slow and quiet, only stopping when he was directly behind her. Without warning, she turned, throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder. He held tight to her, brushing her hair and whispering profusely about how sorry he was for bringing up the matter, especially in the manner he did.

When she continued to cry, he picked her up, bridal style and carried her to what was left of the bed. He sat crossed legged, placing her in his lap, continuing brushing her hair and whispering his apologies.

He rested his head on hers, rocking back and forth, his jaw clenched and face set in a frown. This was one of the reasons he couldn't be with her. Just that quick, he had taken away her joy and made her cry. What if something like this had happened before they needed to go out and fight? Would her powers falter because of him? He would positively die if she got hurt- or worse- because of something he did.

He looked towards the boarded up window. It let in little light, but a few rays of sunlight was beginning to filter in through the cracks. He felt drowsy just thinking about the rest of the day. But then again, his drowsiness could have been from the lack of sunlight. Tameranian's needed sunlight to function, and he was half Tameranian now.

Lifting up his head from hers, he looked closer at the window. Something about it, or outside of it rather, caught his attention. He didn't have to say anything, Kory lifted her head, wiped her eyes, and looked to the window as well.

Slowly standing up, Dick grabbed Kory's hand, pulling her to the door quietly. He covered Kory's mouth, expecting her to gasp, when he saw a shadow cover the windows only light, darkening the room. He backed into the door, prepared to take down his security measures but a swift knock came just as his back touched the door.

Kory covered his mouth, knowing he would jump or yelp from fright. Peaking out the peep hole, Dick couldn't see anyone- which was even worse. He backed up away from the door, his hand still covering Kory's mouth and her hand still covering his, and made his way to the bathroom.

Closing the bathroom door behind them, he held in a jump when he heard glass shattering. Probably the window being obliterated.

They still had time, there were still wooden planks up. The bathroom didn't have any windows, but he was sure they were at the edge of the hotel and not in between rooms.

He looked towards the far wall, knowing it needed to be blasted down so that they could make their escape. Without even opening his mouth, Kory held her hands up, allowing them to glow green. Instead of blasting it away though, she let her hands heat up without actually creating a starbolt. The paint and wallpaper quickly melted away and the sheet rock burned brightly, falling away as ashes.

Breaking wood filled Dick's ears and he quickly threw up a shield in front of the bathroom door, just in case. He wasn't sure how strong his shield was nor how long he could hold it especially without meditation, but if it could hold a missile, he supposed it could go up against some other stuff.

A cold wind brushed passed his skin and he turned around just as Kory finished burning away a large hole in the wall. She created a shield for him to stand on, standing on it herself. With determined eyes and her will set, she was able to focus on the disk enough to make it move. Smiling to her self a bit, she grabbed Dick's hand as he got on.

Dick's focus faltered a bit, and he knew someone was trying to break down the door. Luckily though, it wasn't hard to hold the shield under the pressure. He kept it up, its white energy lighting the dark bathroom, until he and Kory were safely out of the building and going top speed towards the train station.

"I. Am. So. Hungry. I. Am. So. Hungry. I. Am. So. Hungry. I wish someone would feed me." Beast Boy sang, his words in the tune of BINGO.

"There was a guy with looks and charm and Beast Boy was his name-o" he continued "Is. So. Hungry. Is. So. Hungry. Is. So. Hungry. He wants some awesome tofu."

Nick shut his eyes tight. The sun was rising, but his nerves were setting. Because Cyborg didn't need to sleep, he talked all through the night and he insisted _someone _listened. Beast Boy talked and laughed with him, turning into a nocturnal animal for a few minutes if he got sleepy. Raven was able to block all the noise out, including Nick's plea to include him in the silent zone she had gone to. And to add to the fact that he was hurting all over, sore feeling and emotionally and physically numb, he still couldn't get their past conversations out of his head.

Unfortunately, every now and then they'd continue the conversation about his entire past life and even present, coming up with new ways to put him, his brother, and family down. He was running out of ways to defend himself. If this was a physical fight, he'd win. Hands down. But this attack on his alter-ego and family, he was losing at. How could he fight for them, if the others didn't know it was them he was fighting for?

Instead, he opted to curl up in the chair, say his injuries were bothering him, and pretend to be asleep. Yes, he was letting his entire heritage down. Yes, he was sickening his ancestors. Yes, it was killing him to no end, but what could he do? The violent thoughts that kept crossing his mind were no good- they were too obvious...and just plain bad.

"And another thing," Beast Boy said, stopping his never-ending song abruptly, "About those Grayson's."

_And here they went again._

"What about them?" Cyborg asked, finally pulling over to a McDonald's so Beast Boy would stop singing.

"You know how they were circus freaks, right?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, what were they planning to do with life after? I mean, it's not exactly like they could go to collage and say, 'Well, I never went to high school, but I _was _a clown!'"

Both Beast Boy and Cyborg burst out laughing, and Nick not only could not think of a way to stop the noise, the lies, but also figure out _why _this was even funny. On the road, him and his brother were home schooled. Honor roll students in their online classes. They excelled in math and science. Blew American Nation/Humanities/History out of the water. Passed English with better scores than the _teachers _did_. _Even music and art were nothing but hobbies to them.

And the truth was, Nick _did _think about how his life would have been if his parents had not died. No doubt, him and Dick wouldn't want to be in the circus forever. He wouldn't really want to go to college, of course he'd think about it though. Even now, it was something to think about. But at the same time, Nick wouldn't know _what _to do with himself if he had to get a normal job. Of course, Bruce was always pushing the 'Wayne Enterprise Heir' thing, but that was still a far off thing.

"Bluuuuuuue Jaaaaaaaaaaay?" Beast Boy said, snapping his fingers in front of Nick's mask. "Dude, Cyborg said 'what do you want to eat?'"

"I'm not hungry," he responded truthfully. How could he eat now? His whole intelligence was being questioned.

"You gotta eat, man." Cyborg said, already beginning to order. "I'll just order you a BIG MEATY BURGER. Ya know, for later."

"NO!" Beast Boy screamed "Just get a muffin...or...or...a salad. Some oranges? Anything BUT MEAT!"

Instead of answering, Nick just nodded his head. Meat. No meat. What did it matter to him? It was food wasn't it. Albeit, unhealthy and greasy food, but food nonetheless.

After ordering, Nick only sipped at his orange juice. His throat was parched and he had just realized how much. The smell of the tea Cyborg brought got Raven out of her meditative state, but she stayed quiet, complaining about Beast Boy's breath silently.

After waking up, she had felt overwhelming emotions. She figured it was Blue Jay giving off such powerful feelings. While Cyborg and Beast Boy talked and laughed, still about those Grayson's, he sat, curled up in the chair, staring off at nothing. Raven had a feeling he was still feeling pretty lousy from his injuries, but soon began to suspect something else was bothering him.

Not bothering to ask, she just focused on her meditating and tea. It was none of her business what was bothering him so much- it was probably their situation anyway.

"And...and..." Cyborg said, struggling to hold in his laugh "I mean, what kind of a nickname is that anyway?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy laughed, "_Dick _is kind of an exaggeration, isn't it? I bet his mom gave him the nickname. She knew more than anyone, if anyone could act like a dick, it was her own son."

Nick could almost _hear _his mother turning over in her grave.

"Would you boys mature," Raven said, pulling a but from her cloak "Girls dont do that kind of stuff. If anyone, his father gave him the name."

And thus the laughter began again. And again, Nick's ears almost bled as he was sure he could hear his father turning over in his grave.

Nick tried to force himself to go back to sleep. If he were alone, he might of even went as far as to try and knock himself out. Anything to escape this torture. Anything to stop hearing what it was his friends _really _thought of him. He imagined their faces once he took off his mask, showing them that he was really the one they were talking about. No doubt, they'd all shut their faces and apologize, expecting him to be his typical self and forgive without a moments notice. He'd wave them off saying 'naw, its cool. You didn't know.' But no, Nick was passed embarrassed now. No, he was angry. Furious even. They talk about the Grayson's, _him, _like he was nothing but a dead animal on the street...wait no, scratch that, even _Beast Boy _would have pity on the dead animal. They treated him like he was some _freak. _Some worthless, leper or something. Someone worth so little of respect that he didn't even deserve pity for his lost parents. Did they even care that their death anniversary was coming up? Of course not.

"And dont even get me started on..."

"Stop!" Nick screamed, cutting off Beast Boy. Enough was enough. How long would he have to sit there and ignore the way they spoke?

He was in the midst covering his ears and just saying 'la la la la laaa laaaaaaa' when his phone _pinged _with an incoming message. He distantly heard Beast Boy ask why Blue Jay had yelled. He hardly heard as Raven asked the noise level to decrease. And he zoned out as Cyborg questioned his pale skin and odd behavior.

With all the noise and things going on, his head swam. He could hardly focus as he flipped open his phone, the words swimming uselessly in front of him. He blinked a few times, questions of if he was okay floating in one ear and out the other. He was _not _okay. He couldn't see right and his vision swam. His hands suddenly felt sweaty and he had a killer headache.

"Stop the car." he said, even his voice sounding queasy.

"Man whats up with you?" Cyborg asked, making no move to pull over.  
>"Does he have a fever?"Raven asked, scooting up putting her hand on Nick's forehead, only to be shrugged off. "He feels clammy."<p>

Looking around Beast Boy found the blanket he had been using. He passed it up to Raven who put it around Blue Jay quickly. Cyborg pressed a button on the dashboard. "This should get his temperature."

"We should have stayed home," Beast Boy said "We told him. I tried, but nooooo. No one listens to me. Im the walking joke. A handsome joke- but a joke! I think-"

"His temp says 104.6" Cyborg read, "Thats definitely a temperature. We may need to get him to a hospital. I can try and find a detour but-"

"You know he wont stay in a hospital," Raven said, looking under her seat for a first aid kit "He'd just escape, making things worse. What we-"

"Seriously dude," Beast Boy continued "If Blue Jay would of just listened to me, he'd be feeling better. I dont think Bumble Bee could even make him stay, and she's just as hardheaded as he is. Really-"

Nick put his hands to his ears. How could anyone, _anything,_ function with this chaos. He wanted to read his message, but he couldn't see the words clearly. He _wanted _everyone to stop talking- about him, his family, and any other subject that came to mind. He just wanted everything to stop.

The car hit a bump and he could already feel his stomach flip.

"Stop the car." he said again.

Raven fussed over the blanket that he was trying to shrug off. Cyborg has alternating from driving and looking in the glove department for something. Beast Boy continued his rant about being right. And yet none of them seemed to hear Nick's plea.

"-Maybe we should go a little faster," Raven suggested "If we need to get to a hospital, we need to do it now. He looks pale and I dont know how long we'll be able to keep him up. He already looks like he's going to pass out. Couldn't you-"

"-And then we can just find Rob and Star after that," Cyborg said, only aware of his own talking "Our next stop has to be a gas station though, guys. This thing is mostly solar paneled, but it clouded up last night and I need a bit of extra fuel so that-"

"-And then their was that time that Cinderblock had come up behind you, Cyborg." Beast Boy said "Remember, I was the devilishly handsome man who had shouted 'watch out, Cyborg.' Do you remember that? I mean-"

Moments ago, all Nick wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep, but now, closing his eyes only allowed his body to tune into the feeling of the car as it rocked side to side. Ordinarily the feel of movement made him happy and completely calm and at ease, but now, it made his chest clench and bile rise up in his mouth.

"Stop!" he said, for probably the billionth time. "Pull. Over. This. Car."

"Man," Cyborg started "We get it, you dont want-"

"No!" Nick said, determined to speak. "Unless you want you floor and dashboard redecorated, I suggest you pull over and let. Me. Out."

Cyborg had no choice by to pull to the side of the highway. It seemed as if Blue Jay would toss himself if Cyborg didn't. Blue Jay got out quickly and walked away from the car. Cyborg tapped the steering wheel, glancing in the rear view mirror only to see Blue Jay hacking over the side of the safety rails.

No one spoke; there was nothing to say. Cyborg wouldn't say he was 'hurt' Blue Jay had yelled and all but jumped on Cyborg's lap and steered the car himself to the side, but he _was _concerned. Normally, Blue Jay was the exact opposite of Robin. He was normally happy and cheerful, never one to get upset over things. And yet, here he was, blowing a gasket and throwing up over the side of the road.

Dick put his phone back in his pocket. Normally, Nick responded to his text messages quickly. Dick pushed away the thought that something bad might have happened and focused on trying not to fall off of the shield. Kory seemed pretty confident steering the shield, all Dick had to do was hold the shield up, making sure it didn't fall out of the sky.

"Lets land here, Kory." he said, standing up.

It almost felt like being on a surfboard, only, the shield seemed a lot more stable. But as Kory brought it down, Dick found it hard to keep his concentration. They hadn't gone above the dark clouds, allowing the charge of a thunderstorm to fill the air. Dick wasn't necessarily at peace while they were so close to potential lightning. Lightning that was drawn to positive electrons; especially since he and Kory were positive electrons.

Kory took them down near a group of misplaced trees. Dick doubted anyone had noticed them, which was odd, considering they were on a bright, glowing, white disk.

The train still didn't leave for another 20 minutes or so, and Bludhaven's streets seemed extremely empty. No one ran down the sidewalk, screaming or laughing. No one lay in the street, half bleeding, half trying to kill someone else. No, the only thing in the streets were trash. A soda can skipped across the street and a piece of paper flittered into a murky puddle.

Kory grabbed his hand, taking in the deserted streets as well.

Dick crossed the street, and made his way to a corner store. It was still early and he needed at least a bite to eat.

Going into the store, he saw that that too was deserted. As Kory wondered to the back of the store, Dick looked over the counter, seeing no one there. Carefully, he allowed his mind to open up, but the only people he sensed in the store was himself and Kory.

Still, he walked down the small isles of the store slowly, his hands tingling with raw energy. If someone was to sneak up on him, he'd blast the person with a power he couldn't even control. It was dangerous and risky to use Kory's powers, but he had left his bo-staff home, his favorite weapon.

He wondered down a isle that sold cheap shampoo. He couldn't help his mind wondering back to earlier that morning. Someone had broken into their hotel room, and someone had knocked on their door at the exact same moment.

It could have been some neighboring hobo who thought he could get a night in a bed, or, it could have been some mysterious person who wanted them dead. His bet was on someone who wanted him dead...unless, this particular hobo was skilled in martial arts because that would be the only way he could get passed Dick's make shift security system.

It angered him that none of his questions were answered. Not who was out to get him. Not who this mysterious 'master' was. Not why him and Kory were targeted out of the rest of the titans. He hated to admit it, but he did kind of need Bruce's help. Him and Bruce hadn't been on the same page for a while, and Dick knew it looked bad on his part to only go and resolve things between the two because he needed help, but what else was he supposed to do?

Dick took a deep breath. The last thing he needed was to blow the entire store up because he had gotten angry.

He was nearly to the end of the isle when he stopped. He turned to look at the different shampoo's. Each was a different color, each had a different specialty, but...each was in English. Minus one. It amazed even him sometimes when his mind caught things his body didn't even notice.

He looked up when he saw Kory make her way down the isle he was in. She held two waters and a few bags of chips. He could tell she was frightened by the whole 'empty town' situation just by looking at her face. She stood beside him, trying to figure out exactly why the shampoo's were captivating his attention.

"Look," he said, picking up the bottle, "It's the only bottle not in English."

Kory raised a brow at him. "Perhaps this is paranoia, Richard." she softly.

"Normally," he said, turning the bottle over a few times "I'd agree with you; but this is in Romanian. _My _language."

"Maybe it was misplaced," she said. She really hoped it was.

"Feriti. Noi nu am uitat de tine." Dick read.

"Beware, we haven't forgotten about you." Kory translated.

She looked over his shoulder and sure enough, that was exactly what the cover said. It wasn't the typical 'strawberry scented' title she was used to seeing, but who knew, maybe this was a new brand.

"And," Richard said, showing her the back "It has Tameranian writing on it."

And thus she was proved wrong.

How could someone know that Richard was going to go down this isle? How could someone know that he would spot the shampoo and not just walk right by it? Whatever was going on was wrong in her eyes.

She jumped into Dick when she heard something crash behind her. He locked his arms around her, prepared to protect, only to see that nothing was attacking them. She admitted it, at the moment, she was deathly frightened. She had truly believed they were alone this whole time. Her first instincts told her to run out of the store, unfortunately though, Richard _never _ran from anything. Quite the contrary actually, he went _towards _the sound.

He kept his hands firmly locked around her waist, as he made his way out the isle and towards the back of the store. He could feel Kory's shallow breathing. Part of the reason he continued to hold her was because he was afraid she'd flee from the store if anything were to come up.

He kept his eyes peeled and his mind still open. It was odd, he had been so sure they were alone in the store.

He stopped in his tracks when he realized what had caused the noise: just a fallen, empty, cardboard box. The box was halfway dented, a door towards some storage room crushing the side of it. The box was just barely holding the door open, and of course, Dick had to find out just who put the box there to keep the box from shutting.

"Lets go in." he whispered in her ear.

He moved forward, but Kory put her feet down. He seemed to be having no trouble pushing her forwards though and Kory cursed her own lack of strength.

Slowly, he moved the box to the side with his foot and stepped around it. Kory turned quickly, pushing on Dick's chest in a last minute attempt to sway his mind. Going into a dark storage room was bad news. Who she really needed was Beast Boy, he'd be on her side about this.

And yet, Dick didn't waver a bit as he effortlessly walked into the dark room with Kory still pushing in front of him.

Surprisingly, the storage room was a lot bigger (and darker) than either Dick or Kory would have expected. Large boxes where stacked to the ceiling in random places. The high ceiling led up to a large glass window, it's black beams that crisscrossed below them, giving the design of checkers.  
>"I believe it is empty," Kory said, smiling brightly and turning to leave, "Let us leave now."<p>

She had hardly made it a step before Dick grabbed her arm and continued to make his way further into the room.

She really couldn't understand why this was necessary. It was just a empty room...no need to further investigate. No need to put themselves in even more danger. She turned to tell Dick just what was on her mind (even though she had no doubt he already knew) but turned to empty space. In a brief moment of terror, she spun around numerous times, in an attempt to locate him.

She blamed herself really, everyone knew Dick had a tendency to pull a ninja and disappear, seemingly out of thin air sometimes. She had been so caught up in her mind that she hadn't realized he had left. She could sense his presence near, so she was able to prevent herself from hyperventilating, but she was pretty sure he'd find it more beneficial if they split up.

Blowing out a breath of annoyance at his ways, she made her way the opposite direction she felt him the strongest. As long as the place was empty, which it had seemed to be but obviously wasn't, she'd be alright.

She kept her hands clutched to her chest as she weaved in and out of stacks of boxes. It was a maze in here and if she hadn't known Dick's exact position, she'd of freaked out long ago. Each one of her footsteps seemed to echo all around her. She felt as if she were stomping, or screaming her position every step.

The sound of a falling box nearly sent her screaming back in Dick's direction, but she was able to smother her cries with her hands. She wondered if it was Dick who had caused the fall somehow, but quickly told herself that that idea was stupid. He probably didn't even hear it.

She broadened her shoulders. For crying out loud, she was a titan. A warrior. She trained with the best masters and did the hardest courses at Okarra. She had pinned Robin at least twice in her life- even if he got out of them in less than 5 seconds. She had practically nothing to fear.

Still, she tip-toed towards the sound of the noise.

It was obvious to see that there was a woman on the ground struggling, but it took Kory a moment to figure out that she was trapped under a mountain of boxes, stuck. Kory cleared her throat, so's not to startle the woman.

The woman's head snapped up to Kory, but immediately softened when she saw there was no threat.

"Oh, dear," she sighed "Give me a hand here, wont you."

Kory relaxed at the woman's tone. It was kind and soft, the way a mother would talk to a child. As she began pulling boxes off of the woman, the woman began to chuckle to herself.

"I was looking for my husband," she laughed "Lord only knows why he would be in this dingy place, but as you can see, I leaned a little too heavy on one of these stacks. Hey, do you know where all the people are? This place was scary enough with them."

Kory shook her head, pushing a large box to the side, "No, my friend and I were most creeped out by the sight as well."

"Where is your friend?" she asked, kindly "It would probably be better if the two of you stayed together."

"Oh," Kory said, her own little side comments cast aside, "I can always find him."

With one last box pushed aside, the woman was able to squeeze out from them. She stood up and Kory was able to get a good look at her. She had long black hair that spiraled into natural curls at the end. Her blue eyes showed youth, but she clearly was somewhere in her early-mid 30's. But her smile was the noticeable feature about her. She wore a pale pink, floral sun dress that stopped just past her knees, with matching gladiator sandles to go with it.

"Thank you so much. Those boxes can be a killer on a girls back." she said, stretching.

Kory blinked. A small, familiar feeling, was suddenly creeping up her spine. She couldn't quite determine what exactly the feeling was, but suddenly, she was looking at the woman strangely. The midnight black hair. The brighter than the sky blue eyes. Witty personality. Kind, motherly attitude.

Kory's breath caught.

Dick rolled out of the way as a stack of boxes fell behind him. The boxes in this room were extremely unstable and pretty heavy...for a box. So far, they were all empty, but then, so was the room he was searching.

Boxes didn't just put themselves in doors, somebody had to have done that. Huffing, he came to the conclusion that the person must have been long gone. It probably wasn't anyone important anyway. He was just so tired of running from people. He needed answers and fast. He had figured that catching someone who was out to kill him would be a start.

He was in the midst of going to find Kory, when his breath caught. He squinted his eyes and looked around himself. As far as he could see, nothing was out of the ordinary.

He flinched, suddenly hearing Kory's piercing scream echo in the room. He ran blindly, weaving in and out of box stacks, some falling to the floor in his haste. He felt around with his mind, locating her easily.

She was standing, completely stiff and paralyzed, in front of a dark-haired woman.

Dick's first instincts were to get Kory away from the woman, but the woman seemed just as frantic as he was at trying to calm Kory down. She spotted Dick and waved him over frantically.

"I'm going to assume your her friend." she said, her voice loud, so that Dick could hear over Kory's terrified shrieking. "I dont know whats wrong. We were talking and she just started freaking out."

Dick was hardly paying attention to the woman. He placed his arms on Kory's shoulder, and backed her up until her back was against a metal beam that led to the beams across the ceiling. Kory's screaming slowly subsided, but she kept her eyes on the woman.

"You okay?" he asked, drawing her attention away from the woman and to him.

Kory shook her head frantically, "No, no, no. I am _not _okay, Richard. I-"

She was stopped by his thumb over her lips.

"Take a deep breath." he told her.

Kory glanced back at the woman. She was fidgeting, leaning on one leg, and then switching to the other. She looked as if she wanted to come over and help Kory herself. Kory was positive that this was wrong. Richard wouldn't lie to her.

"Take a deep breath." Dick reminded her, and Kory did, actually feeling better.

"Tell me whats wrong." he asked her, loud enough for her to hear, but low enough so the woman couldn't.

"Turn around," she whispered.

For a moment, he looked at her skeptically. But slowly, he turned around, only to back up frantically into her.

"What is wrong with you kids?" the woman asked, "You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Come on, we need to get you out of this air and-" she froze, staring Dick in his eyes.

Kory wiggled from behind Dick, who was squishing her to no end. Never in her life had she seen Dick look so terrified. Not with Slade. Or Joker. Or when he was slashed in his stomach. His eyes were wide and bright, but his skin was so pale it closely resembled Raven's. His mouth was agape and he looked as if he would run any minute.

"Richard?" the woman asked, but it only made Dick push himself against the metal beam harder. Her soft, sweet voice brought back millions of good memories to him. Memories of his childhood and of playing happily with his brother. Memories of being happy and having do cares in the world.

It seemed as if his mind processed the fact that the harder he pushed into the beam, the faster the woman would disappear.

"Richard, its me." the woman said, stepping closer.

Dick pushed against the beam so hard he slipped to the ground. He was just glad the beam was strong. There was no way he was seeing this. No way this woman was here. No way _Kory _could see this woman. She was a figment of both of theirs imagination. He was not seeing her. She didn't look like she had aged a bit, but that was only because she wasn't real. Memories were always left the way you remember them. This was not real.

He was _not _seeing his mother.

* * *

><p>AN: Yes, a twist in the game. I know, i know...IM CRAZY, you dnt have to remind me. Anyway, Plz **_R&R_** you know the deal. BTW, read my other W.I.P. (work in progress) 'As the world falls Around us'. So far, I think people like it.


	12. Meet The Parents

Im close to tears, i really am.

But more seriously, im so sorry.

Sorry to everyone.

My computer broke at the beginning of the summer and it took me a long time to get a replacement laptop. Ever since, I've been typing on Violets laptop, but shes on like, 24-7 and i had to work around her schedule since its her laptop. So, I wont hold this from you any longer.

Read and Enjoy (ps: ignore errors please. My computer was set to fix a lot of my mistakes and it didn't feel right to change Vi's laptop to fit my needs.)

-_-A Test Of Faith-_-

* * *

><p>Kory wanted to move. To do something. She wanted to swoop in and rescue Dick like he had done her so many times. She'd travel to the ends of the earth for him, and she was certain he'd do it for.<p>

By the way he was staring at the woman, she knew he hadn't lied about his past. She had a feeling he really _did _think his mother had died. He told her his mother and father had fallen from their trapeze ropes some 60 feet down. Even Kory, a Tameranian, couldn't survive that. So how was his mother, and father, here right now?

"Richard," his mother said, stepping closer.

Dick tried to back away but didn't seem to register the fact that he couldn't go _through _the beam he was against.

Kory wasn't sure, but she didn't think Dick knew how to faze through walls yet. She had almost had the courage to try back at the hotel, but chickened out.

Deciding to take action, and stop staring at the two who were staring at each other, she stepped in between Dick and his mother.

"How is this possible?" she asked.

"I'll explain everything to the both of you, if you would give me the chance-" she tried, only stopping when a thump sounded throughout the room.

Kory turned around, almost screaming when she realized Dick was on the ground, face first.

She rushed to his side. She had dealt with him unconscious before, just the day before actually. But never had he ever passed out from something other than pain or a hit to the head. Suddenly, her head felt as if it were splitting open. She held back a squeal and clutched her head.

It felt _worse _than what Raven had done to her and Dick a while back. She willed it to stop out of habit, but to her surprise, it worked. The pain diminished and all that was left was a dull aching feeling. She couldn't exactly pin _why _she had experienced that pain, but had no time to ponder it. She was rather surprised the room was still intact.

She jumped when she found that Dick's mother was at his side, already turning him onto his back. Kory's nerves must have been much more on end than she had thought. Everything little thing was sending her into a mini panic.

A little voice in the back of her head told her that whoever this woman was, couldn't have been Dick's mother. But secretly, she was glad his mother was taking over. She always did freak when Dick wasn't able to help her out.

"We need to get him out of here." his mother said, her voice oddly calm. "He needs some fresher air."

Nodding, Kory grabbed Dick's legs while his mother grabbed his arms.

Nothing had really changed. Dick was still heavy. Dick was still very hard to move when he was nothing but dead weight. _But, _it was easier moving him when there was someone else to help out.

Though they couldn't get him off the ground, he slid across it rather easily. Kory felt bad she couldn't levitate things, otherwise things would be much easier.

They got him as far as the stores front door before they had to take a break.

"Phew," his mother breathed, "He's certainly gotten a lot bigger."

Kory stared at Dick's mother oddly. She knew this was wrong, and she knew Dick would not like to know his previous dead mother and best friend had just dragged his body across the floor out to a deserted, but still deadly town. But she had no choice. This woman would probably follow her whether she wanted her to or not.

At least, that was what she reasoned.

"Oh, Honey!" Dick's mother yelled suddenly.

Kory wasn't necessarily fond of screaming in this deserted town. With no one around, this place was scary enough.

"Over here, John!"

Kory was on the verge of dragging Dick back inside the store and hiding herself and him in a corner when a man came up from behind her. Kory screamed, backed up, tripped over Dick, and fell flat on her butt.

She hoped she was the only one to see the dozens of bags of chips pop open and burst onto the floor.

"Whoops, sorry." said the man, grabbing her arm and helping her up, "Ain't mean to scare ya."

"It is...alright." she said, brushing some dirt off her arms.

The man in front of her stood almost alarmingly tall. He was, no doubt, either Dick's older brother or his dad. And because he had a few wrinkles, she would say he was probably Dick's dad. His eyes were bright blue and he had black shaggy hair, looking just like Dick's did when he woke up too early in the morning. She had to assume this was John because Dick's mom ran straight into his arms.

"Where have you been?" she said, slapping his chest lightly, "I've been looking all over for you."

"I've been looking for _you._" he said, his hands up in innocence, "I don't necessarily like these empty streets."

"Me either," Dick's mom said. Then, with a jolt, she turned from her husband and bent down next to Dick.

"He passed out," she said, glancing at her husband.

John hiked up his pants and bent down beside his wife. He rubbed his shaven chin, looking over Dick, but Kory knew it wasn't because he was worried.

If, and this was a _big _if, Dick's parents had an actual explanation and really _did_ survive the fall somehow, Kory couldn't imagine how odd it would be to see one of their sons after so long. If Kory left Dick for just a few days, she was sure she'd freak out after seeing him again. Just in the past few months Dick seemed to change dramatically- when it came to height, anyway.

Kory's people were naturally tall, and when she came to earth, she found that she was still quite tall compared to the people. Dick included. She had towered over Dick for quite awhile, but eventually, he had caught up to her. They had been the exact same height for a while too, until recently. It seemed as if he had grew inches over night, seeming to tower over _her. _Yet in reality, he was only a few inches taller than her. Something he had teased her about from the start.

Kory blinked, suddenly realizing that John and Dick's mom was looking at her strangely.

"That's the young lady who helped me in that storage room." Dick's mom said.

"Kory." Kory said reaching her hand out, her politeness and manners taking over her freight.

"Mary," the woman said, smiling kindly and shaking Kory's hand, "And my husband John."

"You are...Richards parents." Kory said.

It wasn't a question; it was a statement. An odd, probably untrue statement, but a statement nonetheless.

Both John and Mary shared a look between themselves. It seemed to Kory as if they were talking with their eyes. Shrugging a bit, they turned back to Kory.

"Its a long explanation, dear." Mary said, standing up.

"Why don't we talk this over on the train to Gotham, hm?" John said, heaving Dick over his shoulder without a moments notice.

While Mary seemed indifferent about the fact that Dick was now slung over John's shoulder, Kory felt uneasy. A large, _strong,_man had her best friend over his shoulder. If it turned out that John and Mary were robots or some kind of shape shifters, they could probably take her out in minutes flat.

She kept her original powers concentrated on her hands. She kept them dim enough not to show, but anyone who touched her would get a pretty serious burn.

She had almost forgotten what it had felt like to use her own powers. Lately, she had been so focused on telekinesis, she hardly used her own powers.

Following the Grayson's out the store, she willed Dick to wake up. Yes, they were technically 'connected' and yes, she had a vague feeling that his presence was still in her mind; but this was his territory. _He_ was the one who dealt with the weird occurrences and this was _his _parents that were the...one...of the problems.

How was she supposed to get Dick away from these weirdos and _still _use their help? She had to face it, she could no longer carry Dick the way Dick's father was carrying him. She needed that kind of strength.

"Train stations right this way." John said, his finger pointed out dramatically.

"I can read the sign, John." Mary said, walking ahead, "Honestly, you can find anything when we don't need it, but when you cant cant find the TV remote, even when its on your lap, I have to come and save the day."

"That was one time Mary," he argued.

"No John, that was twice."

"Oh alright, _twice. _Whats the big deal?"

"There is no big deal."

"Then why'd you mention it?"

"Because I want to have on record that you did, indeed, loose the remote twice in the same day."

"But I- OK, fine. But _that _was only one time."

"No John, that was _twice._"

Kory inwardly cringed and she somehow knew Dick was going to wake up soon. She felt it all over her. Oddly enough though it wasn't any physical assurances. She just..._knew. _The same way she knew her and Dick were friends, she knew he'd be awake soon.

Right on schedule, he popped up with a start.

The sudden motion sent John off balance and Dick slid from his hands too fast for the both of them. Dick went crashing to the hard cement, landing on his butt ungracefully. Mary covered her mouth, holding in a startled gasp and it seemed as if John was still piecing together the fact that Dick was no longer in his arms.

Kory thought it was strange that someone like John, an acrobat, could be so slow reacting. Maybe it was the fact that Kory would always see, no matter how incorrect it was, Dick's parents as fast living people. Maybe even secret spies. It was hard to imagine Dick with a normal life. With normal parents. A normal family.

Dick was so different than regular people. Despite being able to blend in well with them, the fact that he was Robin could not be overlooked. He would always and forever be different than the rest, no matter how hard he tried.

Dick scrambled to his feet, completely unaware of anything but his parents.

Mary fixed the strap on her bag and pushed some of her curls behind her ear. John broadened his shoulders, seemingly comparing Dick to himself. Both were looking intently at Dick with a mixture of awe, sadness, and amazement. Dick, on the other hand, looked as if he'd pass out again at any minute. He swayed back and forth ,clearly unbalanced.

Kory cut between John and Mary before Dick got the chance. She grabbed his hand, snapping him out of his swaying and trying to lend him silent strength as well. By the way Dick gripped her hand back, she knew he could use the strength.

Kory was realizing that the shock the Grayson's were going through, chronically rendered them staring idiots. They seemed to neither recognize the fact that time was still moving or the fact that they had places to be and things to do. She realized that she'd have to be the smart one and keep things moving.

"I believe the train will be leaving soon," she said, tugging Dick by his hand.

Kory had succeeded in getting everyone's attention. Dick's hand loosened as he snapped back to reality. His eyes didn't look so glazed over and he regained _some _posture back. John and Mary both snapped their heads in opposite directions, seemingly embarrassed for staring.

"Kory's absolutely right," Mary said, adjusting her hair and purse, "We have places to go. Things to do. And people to meet. The train should be leaving pretty soon, so we need to get our tickets and such."

She didn't move though, and Kory realized a beat after Dick did that Mary was going to follow Dick and Kory.

Kory wasn't sure why, but parents (apparently even the ones that were supposed to be dead) preferred to _follow _their children opposed to the other way around. Logic told her it was because the parents wanted to keep an eye on their kids, but something told her that Mary and John had the vague idea that Dick would bolt if he had too much of a choice.

And yet, even while Dick and her began walking towards the station, she knew Dick didn't like Mary and John walking behind him. She knew it unsettled him to an extreme extent and couldn't help but allow herself to feel a bit on edge as well. After all, this wasn't an everyday event.

Mary instructed Dick and Kory to board the train while her and John brought the tickets. Kory new Dick welcomed the distance greatly, but even then, he stole a glance behind his shoulder to see his parents walking away.

The moment they got on the train, he seized her hand as if it were a rope meant to keep him from falling to his death. Neither said a word as they made their way further back in the train cart. Dick's eyes were focused ahead as they walked, but Kory couldn't help but look around herself like a adoring child in a chocolate factory. The train was empty, just like the streets, and that, was not normal.

She knew she could be just as paranoid as Dick, but she couldn't help but feel like the empty town had something to do with her. And with the Grayson's suddenly showing up, things seemed to be turning in odd directions, whether they were bad or good directions were unknown.

Dick slammed himself into one of the chairs, not caring that he hadn't let go of Kory's hand, nor that she flew on top of him from the momentum.

Kory quickly disentangled herself from his lap, quickly sitting in the chair beside him.

There was no doubt about it; he was distracted. And not only that, but he was seemingly traumatized. His gaze was focused on nothing, his mind was clouded with random thoughts and memories, and not once, had he formed a coherent word.

He needed help and more importantly, he needed to take charge again.

After a few strenuous moments of trying to free her hand from his, Kory massaged the aching skin. Truly, he had a grip of death.

She carefully, making sure she didn't startle him out of his own mind, took his face into her hands and turned his head to look at her. His pupils shrunk as he finally focused on one thing.

"Richard Grayson," she said, her voice thankfully betraying how uneasy she felt, "listen closely."

He neither shook his head, nodded, or showed any signs of recognition, but she knew somehow that he heard and understood her; so she continued.

"I understand that our situation at present may seem... odd and confusing. But now it neither the time to show nor express any signs of panic. For we are the Teen Titans; is it not necessary that we keep our chilled temperature at all times?"

Dick almost wanted to tell her that 'chilled temperature' was not the correct term for 'cool', but at the moment his entire body seemed against him.

He couldn't seem to talk, he kept having blackout moments, and his mind wouldn't focus on any one thing for an entire 5 minutes. It was both frustrating and maddening all at once, making him feel over all like crap.

But looking at Kory, as she attempted to get him to keep his 'chilled temperature', it gave him some hope. He wasn't totally lost. If all else failed, he knew he could at least focus on her for more than five minutes. And at the moment, that was a real feat of accomplishment.

He tried not to look startled as his..._'father'_...slammed himself in the seat across from him. He put his ankle over his other knee, in an obvious attempt to get comfortable. To any other person, John Grayson might have looked completely at ease, but to Robin...and John Grayson's son, he looked anything but.

Dick noticed how his lip kept twitching. How John wouldn't stop tapping his finger on his crossed leg. He kept scrunching up his nose, and, he wouldn't make eye contact. Not that Dick was staring at him, but he could always pick out a nervous guy.

Dick wasn't sure whether or not he liked the idea of his... _'father'_...being nervous. He could be nervous for a few reasons.

1. On the whim that this really was his father, he could just be nervous after so many years.

2. This could not be his father, and he was just nervous because of whatever his mission was.

Whatever the real reason, a nervous person was about 10 times more likely to act out of character and possibly do something he'd regret later. Meaning Dick had to be on his A game and not just that, but keep Kory on her A game as well.

He had already counted about four different exits he and Kory could use...just in case. It was nice to know that even while he was in a bit of a faze when he had boarded the train, he had still stuck to his training and figured out his escape routes.

Of course, once the train began moving, finding the exits would be the least of his worries. It was getting out of them safely that he had to think a little harder about. How could he jump off a moving train without _really _injuring himself?

He knew that a shield could catch him, but jumping out a train only to slam into a shield wouldn't be much worse than landing on a sidewalk. He could try and convince Kory to attempt to slow their fall down. She may not have been very strong, but she certainly was a master with flight.

If all else failed, then he could just attempt flight as well. He _did _have the capability. Really, he should have been practicing on it. Never the less, it was his last resort.

Kory placed her hand over his, trying to pull him from his mind. He clearly had some kind of plan forming. She could tell by the look on his face. Though she did feel better about having alternate plans, she wanted him to relax a little.

She admitted it, this wasn't a normal circumstance, but they both needed to take a moment to gather their barrings. It had already been a long morning, and she knew by his attitude that it would be a long afternoon and night as well. She wanted to take this small moment of peace on the train, to allow them to clear their minds. Meditate maybe. Anything to prepare them for whatever they needed to expect in the upcoming days.

The moment Mary sat down beside John, the train started moving. Kory could already hear Dick thinking about a coincidence. He was just so paranoid.

"I got our tickets," Mary said, holding them up for proof. "Well, technically I found them. No one was at the booth and their were some laying on the desk. I left a 50 though, just in case someone realized they were missing."

Everyone settled into an uncomfortable silence. Kory tried to keep her eyes out the window, hoping to seemed occupied with watching the empty city slide past the windows view. Dick squeezed her hand briefly, and she knew he was going to ask the question he had been thinking since the warehouse.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed and looked straight at his...'mother'... "What happened?"

And there. The question was out.

"What happened when, honey?" she asked innocently.

Just that one phrase made his throat tighten. It was such a simple line, and yet, it meant more to him than any other thing she had said. So simple, and yet, so familiar. He had heard it more times than he could count as a child.

"How is it possible that you are here?" Kory said, saving him from speaking.

"Oh," Mary said, taking a deep breath, "Well, its quite a long story."

"Oh, stop being dramatic, Mary," John said, putting his arms behind his head and leaning back, "Its not like he's not gonna know eventually."

"I never said that, John." she said, crossing her arms.

"I know. But I know you; you like to make people wait until they cant take it any longer."

"For your information, John, it makes everything more exciting when you have time to imagine whats happened."

"Don't you think hes waited long enough, already?"

"Ok, fine. You tell him, John."

"Oh, no," he said, smiling broadly, "your the story teller."

"Then let me do my job," she said, poking his rib.

John put his hands up innocently and seemed to turn all rein and control to his wife.

Oddly enough, this was exactly how Dick remembered his parents. Always laughing and giving each other hard times about nothing. And yet even then, his father always gave up and surrendered to his mother in the end. Even if they weren't _really _his parents, it was nice to see that they still loved each other, if not for the simple fact that it refreshed Dick's memory in a positive way.

"Well," Mary said cheerfully, "to put it simply, we owe our lives to one man."

"Oh, don't carry on about him, again," John said, stopping short when he realized Mary was glaring at him for interrupting.

"Yes," she said, still glaring, "You've probably heard of him, Mr. Gunner Wilson. Quite an old fellow, white hair all around. Very nice."

"Here we go," John muttered.

"I do not believe I am familiar with him," Kory said, and Dick his head no also.

"Odd," she said, turning her wedding ring on her finger, "he seemed to be quite elite in Gotham. Nevertheless," she continued, "he was at the circus that night we fell. He made sure we were taken care of."

Dick was amazed that she could say this so straight forward. He _still _had nightmares about that night, and he hadn't even been the one who fell. But then again, watching it happen had to be different than having it happen to you. She was alive and talking, (maybe), so she must have felt better about this. Maybe.

"Most doctors, well, all the doctors, said we were lost causes. They opted that life support would be a waste of time and space." she said with a shake of her head, "Mr. Wilson though, had us brought to his mansion. He had private doctors come and take care of us everyday. Even after years went by, he refused to take us off life support. I didn't even know a person could be on for so long."

Where had Dick and Nick been that whole time? Hadn't anyone felt the need to tell _them? _The kids of this whole ordeal? He could _almost _understand why they hadn't mentioned it when they were younger; no one wants to give kids false hope, but he was older now. Why hadn't anyone talked to him about it? They had plenty of time to do so.

"When did you finally recover?" Kory asked, leaning forward, like a child at story time would do.

"A little under a month ago," Mary answered, "Those first few weeks we couldn't even _talk._"

"A miraculous recovery," Kory responded, and even Dick could hear the suspicion in her voice.

Mary grabbed John's hand, "I didn't do it alone. And speaking of Mr. Wilson, I believe as a family, we owe him a thank you. He saved our lives after all. Wheres your brother?"

Dick felt a pang of guilt. He didn't really know where his brother was, let alone his team.

"He's gonna meet me back in Gotham." Dick said, and he hoped for all it was worth, that that was true.

"Speaking of Gotham," Mary said with a snap of her fingers, "We have to think Mr. Wayne as well. He did us a tremendous favor by taking you boys in. You know most orphanages are in horrible condition, and I couldn't bear it if one of you boys were to be adopted without the other."

"Mary, why don't you make a list of all the people you want to thank," John said sarcastically.

"Already done," Mary said, pulling a notebook from her purse. It was already just about full, "Anyone you'd like to add?"

John shook his head, both in disagreement and amazement. He was sure she had every nurse and doctor that had come into contact with them in her notebook.

"I think we ought of drop by Mr. Wilson's while we're down here," Mary said, putting her notebook back, "The least we can do is thank him in person."

"Why don't we just buy the guy a beer and call it a day," John said.

"John," Mary argued, "Buying a beer is not a thank you,"

"It is for a man."

"John-"

"Its what we do Mary. We hit each others shoulders and buy each other beer. That would mean the world to the guy"

"He's old, John. What if he doesn't drink beer?"

"Ok, then we'll send him a bottle of prune juice."

"John-" she said, before blowing out a breath, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Buy me a beer." he said with a smile, only to receive a punch in the shoulder.

They both laughed at each other and Dick felt the unnerving need to put distance between them and him.

"I'm gonna get something to drink," Dick said standing up.

"I'll go with him," Kory said, following his lead.

"Stay away from the coffee, son," John said, "It'll stunt your growth."

Dick gave a weak nod before quickly walking ahead towards the dining cart. Kory could barely keep up. Between the moving and rocking of the train and Dick's hurried speed, she could barely keep her balance. She waited until they crossed carts and the sliding door closed behind her that she lifted off the ground and flew behind Dick.

Even after they reached the dinning cart, some 5 carts away, he still looked restless. He leaned heavily on the ordering counter, seemingly deep in thought.

Kory laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You are, okay?"

"There's too many things wrong," he responded, without answering her question.

"They gave an explanation-"

"But it had holes in it. Why were they here? How did they find us? How did they get to Bludhaven? What was she doing in the storage room? The speedy recovery. The mysterious benefactor. The fact that they hadn't aged a day. The fact that they found me. The secrecy."

"Secrecy?" she asked, after a moment.

"Something like this would be big news. Its been years since they fell and just a month after they recovered. And this Mr Wilson, guy? Why hadn't I heard of him? Why hadn't I heard of any of this? Nick and I should have been the first to know about all of this. Why were _we _left in the dark?"

Kory took a deep breath, hoping to share some of her calmness to Dick. So the whole, calm, interested look he had had back with his parents was fake. Pretend. He was just acting like he really believed their story. Like he really trusted them.

He paced the small, empty dinning cart, biting his thumb nail unmercifully. She couldn't figure out how in the world he could keep his balance on this shaking train.

"Train?" he said, looking up at her.

She had no idea how to respond to that.

"We are on one, yes?"

"Yeah," he said slowly, "but, who's driving it?"

Kory blinked, "I was not aware your trains required a driver."

"He's called a conductor," he responded, already heading out the cart and moving towards the front of the train, "If this thing is as empty as it seems, than someone outside of this train is controlling it."

"Perhaps it is just on a schedule. Like a clock."

"Perhaps we're headed down a dead track. Like some kind of sick plot."

Kory knew nothing she said would calm him down nor change his mind, so she fell in sync with his jogging and prayed that everything would turn out fine.

Dick tried to keep his cool. He really did. He nodded and smiled and perfectly looked the part of a truly concerned son who really believed his parents were alive after all these years. Even though he knew this whole thing was total crap and so far non-believable, he did bask in the memories of his parents.

The way they looked. Smelled. Smiled. And talked. It was all so familiar. And yet, he had to keep reminding himself that they weren't real. Weren't his real parents. He needed to keep that line between what was real and what wasn't clear; for his own sake. If Batman were here, he'd send Dick home for the sole reason that he was emotionally attached to this. As much as Dick wanted this all to be true, he knew it wasn't. He couldn't let it interfere with his real judgment.

He cast a glance back a Kory, knowing that they had reached the cart just before the last cart. The locomotive head. He told himself deep down that he had looked back for reassurance. To tell himself that she was still behind him, but he knew, _deep _down, that he was really looking for strength. He wouldn't tell anyone how hard seeing his parents was. That he was emotionally, and suddenly physically, drained. That he wanted nothing but to crawl into his bed in the tower and sleep the week away.

And yet, he knew he couldn't. So he took a deep breath, and opened the train door.

As non-shocking as it was, the cart was completely empty. No one standing in a tall blue and white striped hat, which oddly enough, he pictured in his mind seeing. No one throwing hot coals into a room full of other red hot coals. No nothing. Just buttons and levers and a few raindrops that were beginning to splatter on the train wind shield.

Taking an annoyed breath, he walked up to the controls, hoping one of them had a button labeled 'what to do if you don't have a conductor.'

"How do we proceed?" Kory asked, studying the controls beside him.

"We stop this thing," he stated simply.

The fact that they were traveling by someone else's standards- someone who might want him dead- was unnerving. It made him feel out of control, and he _hated _being out of control.

"Then what?" she asked, the hint of a hidden motive behind her question. Or maybe that was just something he sensed.

"Then...we, find another way to get to Gotham."

"Is this train not headed in that direction?"

"Yeah," he responded, still looking at the controls.

"Why do we not just ride to Gotham, and get off there?"

"Because we cant stop this thing," he said, knowing already that her point had out-done his own reasoning.

"Then perhaps we can jump when the time comes."

To any normal person, that sentence might have sounded suicidal, but he it was probably a better bet than hiking to Gotham after stopping-if they even managed to stop- the train. And yet, jumping didn't really seem like a good idea either. He knew _she _would be fine. She could fly. He on the other hand was still a novice in the arts of the sky. And then their were his parents.

A sick piece of his mind told him that leaving them on the train was probably a better bet for him. It was like having an annoying animal follow you. The sooner he ditched his 'parents' the least amount of trouble he'd have. He'd be able to get rid of them without getting attached in any way, shape, or form.

Exactly what he needed to do.

He leaned against the wall, staring at the rain for a moment. Things were just so screwed, and yet, he should have known something like this would happen sooner or later. Something always happened that sent him running back to Batman in the end. Though this wasn't necessarily his adopted fathers style, he wouldn't hold it against him if this all turned out to be his doing.

Batman always found ways to continue training Dick- even when they were miles apart.

Kory leaned against the wall beside him, unsureness radiating off of her in strong waves in his mind. He suddenly felt tired, as if he hadn't woken up just a few hours ago.

"You are alright?" she asked, her voice tentative and soft.

"Yeah," he said, raking his gel-less hair with his hand, "Just tired, I guess."

"Perhaps meditating would help you calm your mind," she offered.

He thought about it for a moment. They had a good hour and a half before they reached the Gotham train station, and he _did _feel an urge to get that illusion of control feel he'd had after their first meditation at the hotel.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him out the front cart.

She settled herself in on of the seats and crossed her legs, patting the seat beside her patiently. He shuffled over, his mind feeling hazy and his body even more sluggish.

Kory grabbed his hand and closed her eyes, whispering her own mantra aloud. She did her best to stay grounded on the chair; flying wasn't necessarily 'normal', but gave up trying when Dick floated just an inch from his chair.

He whispered his own mantra of control, order, and balance. The world falling away like glass.

-ATOF-

* * *

><p>Silence.<p>

It was killing him. He couldn't take it. Couldn't deal with it. And yet, he knew it was appropriate. The moment someone talked was the moment Blue Jay would make them pull over again. Or make Raven send him on a long journey of death, for breaking this precious silent moment.

Beast Boy shuffled his finger and tapped his feet on the cars rug. The silence had his senses at full attention. Blue Jay's smell overwhelming, from his last vomit episode. Raven's now cold tea wafted through the air. Cyborg's half eaten burger, discarded on the dashboard. The mixed smells was enough to make any normal person sick to their stomachs, but Beast Boy was used to sickening smells all mixed into one. His bedroom alone held more smells than this small car.

For the millionth time, he stealthily looked around himself. Blue Jay was still curled up in a ball and asleep. His fever alone probably heating the car from the cold air outside. Raven still seemed completely engrossed in her book, but then, with Raven he never knew. She could be just as sick as the quiet as him, and yet he'd never know. Cyborg's eyes and attention was dead on the road, unwavering and undivided.

Sighing, Beast Boy looked out the window. The country and grasslands passing away slowly in a field of blur. Cyborg had said they were about 2 hours from Gotham and honestly, Beast Boy couldn't wait to get there.

Not only would it allow him to stretch his legs, but he'd get to find Robin and Starfire too. He was actually starting to miss their odd completion of ways. With Starfire's overly happy self and Robin's overly un-happy self, they completed each other in unimaginable ways. He bet that if they were one person, they'd be prefect. The perfect combination of seriousness and perkiness.

And then there was the bigger part of why he wanted to be in Gotham. One word. Batman. He still couldn't believe that he was actually going to meet the dark knight. _The _dark knight. The origin of Robin himself.

The car hit a bump and Beast Boy hit his head on the window, half expecting Cyborg to apologize loudly like he always did. He did a mental head slap when no 'sorry's' came. He had forgotten. Silence.

He almost grunted in annoyance. It was getting annoying the way they trampled around Blue Jay like he was a fragile piece of glass. Everyone knew Blue Jay was as strong as anyone. He could defeat Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg all at once in 5 minutes without really trying. He got Robin in a headlock more times that he could count. Blue Jay was not one to be easily pushed around, but, he could understand the confusion.

Blue Jay had completely flipped out, for no reason. He had come out the blue with a renewed vengeance of anger, only making himself sick in the end.

Something really horrible must have set him off. He was usually so calm and mild tempered. Maybe it was the fever. His temp had gone from 104 to 105 a little too quickly for Raven and Cyborg's likings. They had wanted to take him to a hospital, but knew he'd just break out and make things worse. He had passed out, although he had claimed he was just tired, not too long after the outburst and his vomiting episode.

Beast Boy was no Einstein, but he knew Blue Jay was sicker not only because of his injuries, but because of something much deeper than that.

Beast Boy focused out his window again. A city line was coming up. Gotham was soon going to be his new temporary home. Maybe, Blue Jay would get help from his house (or wherever he was staying). Maybe Robin and Starfire was already waiting for him and the team with answers and a solution. Maybe, things would turn out alright and he'd be home with the team again, happy and laughing about this whole misunderstanding.

But maybe, things would continue on its current path, and get much worse.

* * *

><p>AN: Again, sorry for the wait. I hope I haven't lost anyone. Please read and review.<p>

Next Chapter: TIMMY COMES!

PLZ Also read my other WIP, As The World Falls Down. Its a YJ fic. Timmy's in that too.


	13. Deep Crap

Tee-hee-hee. I'M BACK AGAIN!

Okay, I've been feeling bad about you guy's wait, so I've been working super hard and typing super fast to get this out to you.

Okay, so everyone knows (and loves, tee-hee-hee) Tim. His introduction kind of thing is further down in this chapter. YAY!

So, without further ado (adu?) Heres chapter 13!

* * *

><p>It was certainly dark, but Dick wasn't afraid. He somehow knew exactly what was going on. Where he was. How he had gotten there. How to get out of the darkness if he wanted. But he didn't want to get out. He was calm here. In control. Could push his problems away for a moment.<p>

The only one here was himself, his memories, his mind, and Kory. He couldn't see her, couldn't smell her, but he sensed her near. She was close, but like him, she was perfectly content with being this semi-alone.

She was in her own meditative state. Even though these powers confused him, he knew how to keep the confusion at bay here. He could fly if he wanted in here; could think those happy thoughts without any distractions.

And yet, his concentration faltered. A bit of his focus slipped away and he knew he couldn't get it back. He was leaving, and Kory was following him. But it wasn't by choice.

He knew someone, most certainly his 'parents' were headed his way. Even though he could feel the train rocking his body in his mind, it hadn't been enough to sway his focus. Not the loud sounds of the track, nor the constant change in lighting, when the train would enter and tunnel and exit, could of swayed his mind. But his parents, they caught even his unconscious attention.

With his peaceful world falling away from him, his subconscious became his conscious and his conscious became his subconscious. The train sounded louder and the light of day was suddenly harsher.

Reality was crashing down on him as his senses lost its dulled feeling.

Kory came into his focus, rubbing her eyes in the harsh light. He had felt her that whole time. He didn't know how long he had been meditating, but the world seemed... sharper. He felt more focused. His tasks at hand were less threatening and he felt renewed with confidence.

A swish came from behind him and he knew that his parents could see him now. He did a quick to make sure he wasn't still flying or his eyes weren't glowing. He double checked on Kory, making sure she was in check as well.

"Refreshed?" his mother asked, coming up behind him, "You were gone for so long."

"I told you mother you were fine, but you know how your mother is."

No. He really didn't know how his mother was. This imposter could claim she was his mother all she wanted, but he knew neither of them could be trusted.

But he dared not voice this. Instead, he smiled and stood up, helping Kory up as well.

"Needed a moment to think, is all," he said, his perfect smile on.

"We understand completely," his mother said, threading her arm through John's. "How long to Gotham do you suppose?"

"Probably in about five or six minutes." John responded, "Things are looking familiar, and I think I saw our station when we went around that curve."

"Perfect." Mary said, "We'll get off and rent a hotel or something. Find Nick of course and have dinner. Just like old times."

She sounded cheerful enough, but the fact of the matter was that she could really be planning the worlds doom. Dick knew he needed to continue playing things off, but he also needed an alternate plan. Finding Nick though, was something they both wanted to accomplish.

"Now, might probably be the best time to attempt to stop this train, now." Kory said, pulling him from his thoughts.

And of course, he also had to figure out how to stop this train. Fun.

"Stop the train?" Mary asked, alarmed, "Why on earth do we need to _figure out_ how to stop this train?"

"Because we're the only ones on it," Dick said, making his way back to the front cart.

"Oh, great," Mary said, a hand on her forehead and her other hand hoisting her purse up on her shoulder.

"Think of it as a adventure," John said, "Not a speedy death. Three fourths of the flying Graysons, making history by stopping a train." he said dramatically.

"Half the flying Graysons," she responded, mimicking his words, "dieing yet again,"

Looking at the controls with fresh eyes, everything looked just as confusing as Dick remembered. Nothing was ever simple.

He was just glad he had taken time to meditate.

Now, would actually be a great time to have Beast Boy here. Beast Boy had seen every movie and show imaginable...even ones with trains. Beast Boy probably knew which lever was which and which lever did what. Cyborg would be helpful here as well, his knowledge of technical things, quite handy now when Dick thought about it.

Shaking his head of his thoughts, he tried to think of any knowledge he had had with stopping trains. Normally, when he was on duty, he just jumped from them, but this obviously wasn't one of those times.

He stopped a trolley once. He couldn't jump because it was full of people, but maybe trollies and trains had the same principle of design.

He remembered the red lever he had needed to pull down. It had been tall and really hard to pull, but that normally meant it was important, right? Spotting a tall, red lever, he thought about it. It didn't look _exactly _like the trolley lever, but it was close. What was the worse that could happen? Cut off one of the carts maybe, but the only people on the train was right next to him.

Going out on a limb, he grabbed the lever, not nearly as surprised when Kory reached out and grabbed it at the same time, as he would have been a week ago. Taking a deep breath, they squeezed the lever and attempted to pull it down. When it didn't budge, Mary and John began pushing down on it as well.

The lever shuttered before swiftly shooting down.

The train slowed down dramatically, throwing everyone in the cart onto the floor and rolling forwards in a heap. Obviously, you weren't supposed to _just pull the lever. _There were probably other things that needed to happen first, but Dick knew none of those things and really, he was just glad they were slowing down.

The loud, annoying, and ear piercing squeak the breaks made seemed to subside after a while. It wasn't until they went completely quiet, that anyone even bother to move.

"Found the breaks!" John said, victoriously, "Told ya it was an adventure," he said, helping Mary up.

Mary stood up, but didn't even bother to answer him. She just needed a moment to get herself together.

Kory took Dick's hand as he helped her up. That...had been a bit of a heart pumper. She had no idea why she thought the train would just slow down gradually...and quietly. But then, judging by everyone's reaction, she didn't believe they expected this either.

Looking out the window, she realized it was raining harder now. They hadn't quite reached the station, but she could see it a few feet away through the rain haze. John was already prying the train door open, although she knew there was a button here that did it for you. But then again, pushing more buttons probably wasn't the best idea.

"Whoa," he said, nearly stepping out of the train, "We're really going to have to watch our steps here."

Peering around Dick to see, she could see that they hadn't been on solid ground. Instead, the track they were on just happened to be a suspended track. They were probably hundreds of feet up in the air, having nothing but the thin train track to keep them from falling.

John grabbed the top of the train and used it to swing back and forth for a moment, gaining momentum, before finally releasing himself around to the front of the train, probably planning to walk the track up to the station. Clearly he used acrobatic ease, and Kory was even more surprised when Mary mimicked his move perfectly.

Dick and her shared a look. She didn't have any acrobatic training like the Graysons. Swinging around to the front of the train was not something she was accustomed to. Maybe, with the rain haze, she could use her flight to aid her.

Dick took a deep breath before doing the same move his parents had done. And just like that, she was alone in the train. Her mind took on a relaxing state, and she knew that it was Dick trying to put her at ease.

She tried to recall all of the moves Dick had taught her. Things about balance and speed and body angling came rushing to her mind. Without trying to think to hard about it, she jumped and grabbed the outer side of the train entrance. The rain immediately soaked her to the bones. For a few moments, her only concern was whether or not she would slip off in the wet of the train, but again, she felt Dick's presence. So close and yet, so far.

With a deep breath, she plastered her feet together and she swung back and forth, trying to get a good height. With one last swing, she let go.

She landed as close to the track as she could, which really only happened to be the very edge. With the rain pelting at her and the slick metal of the track, her foot slipped backwards and she knew she'd slip right off.

She scolded that mother nature, not her loss of balance or lack of strength, was what had caused her to loose her footing. But her panic was short lived, her foot had barely come off the track before Dick had her in his arms.

A simple hand or arm was all that was really needed. She just needed to give the illusion that Dick had helped her up. She could of flown to keep her balance and to get back on the track. And yet, even in the soaking rain, suspended thousands of feet in the air, with his parents watching, she enjoyed the feel of being wrapped in his arms. Of being protected, despite the circumstances.

But that too was short lived. To his parents, it looked like a hug of grief. Of his happiness that she was alright. But she knew better. She felt his panic just as she felt her own when she had slipped. He had been just as scared as she had been. The hug meant much more to the both of them than it may have appeared, but the meaning wasn't insignificant to her. She appreciated his care.

Walking across the wet track was terrifying. Not necessarily for herself; she knew she could fly. Not necessarily for Dick, for she knew when he'd fall at the same time that he did, giving her time to catch him like he had caught her. No, really, she was worried for his parents.

Though heights was in their blood, the possibility that they could fall was greater here. They were not invincible. They had fallen before after all. Even if these weren't Dick's real parents, they were human enough. What would happen if they _did _fall? Could she reach them in time? She knew she wouldn't be able to fly and help them.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. Getting herself agitated would only put herself in danger. She needed to keep her head and focus on getting across this track. Her mind latched onto Dick, who was behind her, walking like he was on solid ground. His mind was calm and he seemed completely at ease, despite being one step away from death.

She supposed it was these stunts and moments that his family and him used to live for. These thrills in life that required the expertise they knew so well.

Relief flooded her when they finally reached the station. The protection from the rain alone was gratifying. Even more gratifying than that was the faces. So many faces and so many people. People everywhere. Talking, yelling, laughing. Just people, being people.

Then up went a commotion when the people noticed that other people were coming off of the tracks. Kory herself would have been quite curious. But she, at least would try and help. Even when they reached the crowd, that just happened to be up on a tall platform, just out of reach for her hands, they made no moves to help. Not even reach a hand down to pull anyone up.

But they took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Cell phones and professional cameras. Plastic and disposable ones. Everywhere there were cameras and she wasn't very eager to get up into the mist of them.

And then the flashes got brighter, everyone noticing together that one of these people happened to be Dick Grayson, billionaire heir.

And then their were hands. Everywhere. Reaching down to grab her. To grab Dick and his parents. Everyone wanted to touch fame. To touch something unusual.

"Don't let go," Dick whispered in her ear.

He latched onto Kory's hand, then reached up with his other hand to one of the many hands reaching for him, taking advantage of his fame. People still clawed at him, trying to get him to latch onto someone else, but he held tight to whoever had him at the moment.

He caught a glimpse back at his parents, also being pulled up onto the raised level. His mother made a motion with her head, indicating that they'd meet him somewhere near the street level. He nodded, despite his thoughts of just ditching them, now would be the perfect time.

Reaching the raised level, he suddenly felt suffocated. Bodies and people were pressing on him from every angle. The air was too warm. Too many smells were in one place. Too many voices and faces and thoughts going around.

His head was hurting just thinking about what would happen if he tried to read anyone's thoughts. He knew now that zoning in on a singular person was a lot harder than Raven made it seem. Even now, with his mind as closed and constricted as he possibly knew how, random words and sentences drifted in and out of his mind. He kind of wished he had a cloak to shield himself with. Just to have a moment of peace. Or at least create some barricade between himself and the world.

Still, though, he kept his hand firmly wrapped around Kory's. He knew she was taking this much harder than he was. He didn't like feeling like he was in a coffin, but he was a lot more used to it than she was.

She was used to having a wide birth of space. As a princess, of course she went to places where there were a lot of people, but she probably always had guards, ready to the kill the first person who got too close to her.

And even on earth, the only person she got too close to was her friends and the people she beat the snot out of. Being someone who flew probably also made small places close to unbearable. She needed fresh air and room, and at the moment, Dick knew these tight spaces was killing her.

He didn't care that he was shoving people and woman a little too hard. He just needed to get through the crowd. He needed to breathe too.

It seemed like forever, but he knew it really was only a few minutes (which really was actually too long) before he broke through the crowd. With all the people and confusion, he was able to slip away unnoticed.

He immediately (and a bit to his dismay) spotted his parents, waving frantically to him and Kory. They were waiting by a limousine...which was odd. It could have been arranged. This whole thing could have been a plot to kidnap him and Kory. But they needed him alive, and they wouldn't risk killing him here, anyway. Too many people. Besides, he needed to get away from this crowd of people. If anything went wrong, he knew Batman would know about it. This was his city.

He pulled Kory along quickly, careful not to glance back at the people. It was a sure sign that he was running from them.

"Hurry up, Richard," his mother said frantically, climbing into the limo.

He hesitated just a moment before following her in.

The interior was dark. Dark red chairs. Dimmed lights around the ceiling. Dark gray carpet along the floor. And yet, it was familiar.

And then their was the kid. Midnight black hair and bright blue eyes contrasted greatly with his pale skin, and yet, he sat across from Dick, smiling brightly at him. His legs were criss crossed Indian style, but both his feet rested on top of opposite knees. He looked uncomfortable, and yet, he still smiled. Rather creepily, actually.

He hid his hands in a blue hoodie that was far too big for him, its length coming down all the way to his knees. A strange since of deja vou washed over Dick. He wasn't sure if it was the kid or the fact that that hoodie looked oftly familiar.

He could feel excitement from Kory, and noticed she was staring, just as excited at Tim, as Tim was at him. He could tell, see it in her face, that she was dieing to hug him.

"Thank you, young man." Dick's mother said, breathing a breath of relief as the car began to move.

"Tim," he said, politely, nodding to her, "And its no problem. The Manor, right?"

"Yeah," Dick said, but his eyes were narrowed on 'Tim'.

Another coincidence that Tim just _happened _to be at the right place at the right time? Dick watched Tim for a moment. Tim's eyes were locked on Dick's parents. He looked as shocked to see them as Dick had been, but Tim shook his head, seemingly convincing himself otherwise.

"So, Tim." Dick said, and knew it came out sounded accusing, and although Tim didn't seem to pay it any mind, he knew Kory wasn't very happy about it. "How'd you know to pick us up here?"

Kory elbowed him in his stomach, none too discreet either, and he was glad (once again) that she didn't have her strength.

When Tim shrugged his shoulders, Dick continued.

"How'd you even know when to pick us up, or that I was even coming?"

This time, Tim didn't shrug his shoulders. Instead, he dropped his head, as if ashamed of himself, which was something Dick knew was baloney. Someone looking so happy couldn't of felt any guilt whatsoever, and if this was the same Tim from the phone calls, he knew Dick's identity and knew that Robin at least would ask questions.

Tim played with the long sleeved of his hoodie for a moment before, yet again, shrugging.

"You've got a cellphone with you," he said, after a moment, "It was easy to track."

Dick gritted his teeth. Of course he knew he had a cell phone, but he put up shields and barriers to protect his phone from other signals. Apparently, Tim was good at hacking. Dick wasn't necessarily sure how he felt about that, though.

"I believe you have something to tell us, Tim." Kory said, an obviously attempt to sway the conversation in a different direction. "Something of great importance."

"Its not important," Tim said, his eyes flicking briefly to Dick's parents. "Later."

Obviously, Tim wasn't going to tell him in front of his parents (who were looking around completely confused about what was going on). Well, at least Dick had something big and important to look forwards too. Not that his plate wasn't already full.

"What Manor are we headed too?" John asked, the silence getting on his nerves.

"Wayne Manor," Tim said, "Its about another few minutes away."

"Oh good," Mary said, taking out her thank-you notebook, "I can cross two off my list."

"He's not expecting us, is he?" Dick asked.

This could potentially be a _very _bad encounter.

"I don't think so," Tim said, one of his long sleeves tapping his chin as he thought, "I was sure I erased all the history on the computer. And he hasn't been acting _too _strange."

Dick breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted his arrival to be a complete surprise. Just a visit really. Coming here wasn't even his idea. He didn't even have any clothes with him. He just wanted to get this over with.

"We're here!" Tim said, turned backwards in his chair so that he could look out the dark, tinted window.

Dick closed his eyes. He wanted to delay this as long as possible. He didn't want to be here. He _never_ wanted to be here. He had hit Bruce square in his jaw the last time he was here. How would that fly, now that he was the one who needed help?

"Richard," Kory said, her voice uneven, "You have a lot of friends."

Opening his eyes, he realized that the backyard was full of reporters and news anchors. Cameras were filming things already. It was only a matter of time before they saw the limo pull up. There was no way Dick was going to get through all of them.

"Who did you tell?" Dick snapped at Tim. "How did they know I'd be here?"

Tim's long sleeved bobbed around as he held his hands up in innocence. "I didn't tell anyone, I swear! _This _was what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is..._this_?" Dick asked, his hands sweeping around, motioning to all the people.

"Lets just calm down," Mary said, as she took off her shoes and put them in her bag, "We'll figure this out."

"Why are there reporters outside?" Dick snapped at Tim again, ignoring his mother completely.  
>"I tried to tell you," Tim said, sliding down the seat and closer to Kory, obviously trying to create some distance between himself and Dick, "There here for you, Nick, and me."<p>

"_But why?"_ Dick asked, his voice in strict pissed-off leader mode. "Does Bruce know their here?"

"Everyone," Tim said, he body tense, just in case Dick decided to lunge at him, "knows their here."

He flinched, hearing Dick mumble something about being the only one who wasn't aware.

This was not how Tim had planned things to go. Dick and him were supposed to be best friends. But the glint of anger directed at him in Dick's eyes proved that 'best friends' wasn't a term that was going to happen soon.

The limousine pulled up in the front, as close to the door as it could get. The reporters had yet notice them, making this a good time to run.

Hoping to redeem himself, Tim reached out and grabbed Dick's shoulder as he was getting out the limo.

"You should know that-"

"Forget it. I'll figure it out myself." Dick snapped, cutting him off.

Tim told himself that Dick's anger was more directed towards his clueless situation, and not towards Tim himself. But it was hard to get a word in edgewise with Dick. The few times Dick actually picked up the phone, he was too busy to talk. Half the time, Tim suspected that Dick ignored the calls for the sole purpose that he didn't know the number. Which was understandable.

But Tim had tried _extremely _hard to reach Dick within the last week or so. He had thought that Dick would at least see why his phone rang so much or why Tim called so much. This wasn't Tim's fault. He had tried his hardest to reach Dick.

He turned when Kory placed her hand on his shoulder. She offered a kind smile before hoping out the limo and following Dick. Following her out the limo, he managed at least a little smile.

Well, at least Kory liked him. As far as Tim had observed, getting through her was half the battle of getting through Dick.

She and him had talked on the phone for a while, too. Hours even. Much longer than he had ever talked with Dick. Tim was aware that he talked... a bit more than average. Okay, he knew he talked _a lot, _but when he actually found someone who was willing to listen to him, he jumped at the chance to be heard.

As Dick unlocked the door, Tim glanced back as the limo pulled off towards the garage. He couldn't figure out why Alfred hadn't mentioned he was there. But then, the old butler had a lot of reasons for a lot of things Tim didn't understand.

Tim was more concerned with the fact that Dick hadn't figured it out himself. Bruce didn't trust a lot of people. Not to be his friend, to live in his house, to, for example, drive his favorite limousine. Dick should have figured that out sooner or later.

But then again, Dick's dulled senses at the moment was probably a good thing for a moment. For one, Tim had borrowed one of Dick's hoodies. It had been just sitting in his old room, warm and fuzzy and totally unused. He would have taken it off sooner, but the moment he had realized Dick was at the station, he and Alfred had rushed to meet him.

That seemed like the perfect time to talk.

But no, Tim wouldn't feel comfortable talking about this with the older couple with him. He had a lot of explaining to do and wasn't quite sure how much the adults knew about anything, let alone why they were even there. He did have a small deja vou moment. The couple had seemed extremely familiar, but he pushed it aside. It wasn't important.

The important thing was setting things right with Dick and Nick...wherever Nick was.

"Make a right," Raven said, eying the crowds of people wearily.

"But my GPS says to stay to the left," Cyborg argued.

"I think its pretty clear where we're going," Raven told him, "We just need to get around these people."

The house, if she could even call it that, was amazingly huge. Unnecessary, really.

She pulled at her hoodie. She really wished she could have kept her cloak, but this and a trench coat was the only thing Cyborg had in black. And she certainly wasn't wearing a trench coat. For about an hour, Cyborg had bragged about his new 'baby's' clothing feature. Just like he could read temperatures from the seats, apparently, he could change clothes with them too.

He didn't have much clothes stored in wherever he was storing them, but at least he had her size in skinny jeans. She refused to wear anything, even slightly baggy, which Cyborg actually preferred. The baggy pants with his gray hoodie wasn't anything Raven could picture herself wearing. But then again, she should probably just be happy that he wasn't into the _way _to big pants. The ones boys wore so that the jeans hung down too low on their hips.

Cyborg had given Beast Boy, much to his pleasure, a green hoodie that had the words 'Beast Machine' on it, and a pair of skinny jeans, that actually were a bit big on him. And more predictably was Blue Jay's blue hoodie and black skinny jeans. With the mask, of course.

Raven wasn't even going to comment on her dislike of the matchy-matchy hoodie-skinny jeans thing.

"How are we supposed to get in there?" Beast Boy asked, "The place looks like the mansion in That Creepy Old Place 3. And _that _was pretty guarded."

"No idea, B." Cyborg said, the car (now disguised as a Mercedes Benz) going about a crawl as they tried to figure this out, "Raven, any idea's?"

"Maybe," Raven said, "We shouldn't call each other by our alias names."

"Can I be Nathan?" Beast Boy asked, "I've always wanted to be called Nathan."

"Whats your _real_ name, grass stain?" Cyborg asked, "Which reminds me, I have a holograph ring for ya. It'll keep the green and fangs and ears at bay."

Raven rolled her eyes as Beast Boy hoped up and down in his seat like a child. Cyborg carefully handed the holograph ring back and Beast Boy wasted no time slipping it on.

Raven knew she shouldn't of been surprised when his green skin faded to a light pink, and his hair brightened to a sandy blonde color. Even his eyes turned, from their usual green to a ocean-shade of blue. And yet, Raven caught herself, thankfully before Beast Boy, staring. He looked completely different.

"You guys can call me," he said, his voice suddenly dropping in pitch, "Garfield Logan."

Cyborg burst into laughter, "Your name is _Garfield?_"

"Well whats your name?" Garfield asked, his hands folded.

"Victor. Victor Stone."

Now it was Garfield's turn to laugh. "_Victor? _Like the Fantastic 4?"

Raven rolled her eyes. _Boys._

"Well, how bout you Rae?" Garfield asked, noticing her eye roll.

"Rachel Roth." she said. The less emotion she used, the least attention she could draw to her name.

Victor and Garfield made eye contact in the rear view mirror, but neither laughed or smiled, although their eyes held mirth.

"Rachel is so...girly." Garfield said, "I would have never guessed. At least I can still call you Rae."

"That means a lot coming from a guy whose named after a fat orange cat." she said.

"Hey! I'm not orange," he said, shifting into his version of a tiny kitten.

"Think again." Raven said, looking out her window, and ending the conversation.

The sound of a cat hissing in surprise almost made Raven smile. The holograph ring must have been able to make his animal shifts look normal too.

She groaned in annoyance as she felt the kitten hop on her lap. He was black and white with short hair, but in an instant, he had shifted to a orange and white tabby with big, puffy fur. The kitten hoped away, continuing its shifting and color changing.

"You better stop that Beas- Garfield," Cyborg stuttered, "With all these people, you never know who may see you and take a picture or something."

The back seat shifted and Raven knew he had regained his human form. It was going to be a long stay. She knew that once they were in a safe place, he'd begin his random shifts. Crawling all over her just to get her to pet him or something.

"I don't see no openings," Victor said, exasperated, "I don't even know where we are."

"I think its a museum," Garfield said, "Maybe its a grand opening. Its a shame Blue Jay is missing this... and that we cant find out his name until he wakes up."

"We probably should try and waked him up," Victor said, casting a glance at the still 'sleeping' Blue Jay.

Despite Victor's warning, Garfield shifted into a big, fluffy white cat and hoped to the front seat and on top of Blue Jay.

Using his fat cat weight, he jumped up and down on Blue Jay's lay, meowing loudly. When that didn't work, he stuck out his claws and dug them through Blue Jay's hoodie.

Victor grabbed the cat by the scruff of his neck, despite the cats loud hiss, and tossed him back to the back seat.

"We're not trying to injure him," he said, "we just wanted to wake him up."

"I was trying," Garfield said, shifting back to human, "But he's a deep sleeper."

"I think its safe to say he's passed out," Rachel, told him.

Garfield seemed to gap at her.

"That's not good!" he screamed.

"Relax," Victor told him, "He'll be fine. His temp is only 103-"

"Which, mind you, is still bad," Rachel cut in.

"-But that better than it was an hour ago. At least its going down."

A few of the cameras took pictures of the car, but more of them were focused forward. It was hard trying not read one of their minds to figure out why they were there. Or even where 'there' even was.

"I think we should go in through the chimney," Garfield said, shifting into a bat.

"I said to stop shifting!" Victor yelled.

"I'll try and find Robin." Raven said, her eyes already closing.

She couldn't fold her legs as well as she could without the jeans on, so she had to settle with just crossing her feet. Something that really didn't seem to be helping, but it was better than nothing.

It took a moment to find him with so many people around, but she knew his mind well.

Outside was so crowded, Dick should have known that the inside would be just as chaotic. A few reporters lounged around, taking lazy photos of the house. Which, was completely out of disarray.

Balloons and ribbons and streamers and confetti lay around, all chaotically arranged as neatly as possible. The obvious doings of Alfred. The few reporters that were in the house immediately began photographing him and Kory and Tim, who hung back a good ways.

He wouldn't say a thing. Wouldn't comment on a thing. He knew what to do when he was clueless (something that seemed to be the new trend), he kept his mouth shut and smiled. He waved. He said his hello's to the reporters. He knew them all by name. They were the same reporters Bruce always let in when a big event happened. These were the reporters he knew would keep all the facts right.

He made his way to the kitchen, popping any balloon that got in his way, hoping to find Alfred. Alfred would help him set things straight.

As expected, the kitchen was full of food and sweets. But no Alfred. For an event like this, Alfred would probably be helping Bruce get ready. His parents, who had been wide eyed and following the whole time, sat at the counter. John picked up a pig-in-a-blanket. He took a bite before smiling broadly.

"You guys go on and do your thing, Mary and I will wait here."

Dick ran a hand through his hair. Could his day really be this screwed? At least though, he didn't have to plan to ditch his parents, they had already ditched him.

_Robin. _

Dick heard Kory gasp, obviously hearing Raven's voice also. When Raven opened the mind channel, it was a lot easier to focus and respond. His own mind channel was just strong enough to reach Kory, but not much else.

_**Hey, Rae**_

_Where are you and Starfire?_

_**My house.**_

_I think we may be outside, but there's a crowd of people._

_**Yeah, that's my house.**_

_How do we get in? As far as we can see, there are no openings or clear paths in._

"The teams outside," Dick said to Kory, who seemed a bit dazed.

Grabbing her hand, he led her to the closest front window. Beyond the reporters now taking pictures of him from the window, he could see a blue car.

_**You wouldn't happen to be in a blue Mercedes Benz, would you?**_

_That would be us._

_**Okay, your basically at the front-**_

_Which front?_

_**Very funny. I'll figure it out. Just be ready to leave the car and run.**_

_I'll pass the message._

"Alright, that's them in the blue car." Dick said, letting the curtain close back, "We have to figure out a way to get the crowd parted and get them in here."

"I can help."

Dick turned to Tim's voice. He really didn't want any help from Tim, and he was sure his face portrayed that, but Tim's help was better than nothing.

"I'll create a distraction on the other side of the house." Tim said, already jogging down the hall.

Kory passed Dick a disappointed look before headed back to the front door.

Dick knew she wasn't very fond of the way he was treating Tim, but Tim was the least of his worries. He didn't have time to play best friends with the kid. There were things bigger than the both of them happening.

Even from the other side of the house, Dick could hear Tim scream something about Bruce and him being prepared to offer a statement. Dick wasn't really sure why Tim was so media oriented, but at the moment, he didn't care.

Instead, he sprinted out the door, Kory close behind, towards the car.

He had run so fast he couldn't stop quite fast enough and ended up ramming his face into the passengers door.

At least _he _had hit the car this time, and not the other way around.

Opening the passenger door, he delayed a moment, seeing his brother passed out and blotchy. Shaking his head, he picked him up bridal style.

"Friends!" Kory exclaimed, opening Raven's door. "It is glorious that you have finally joined us."

Rachel, Garfield, and Victor all stared at Dick. He _couldn't, _repeat _couldn't, _be Robin.

"Come on," Dick growled.

And at that tone of voice, they knew that Dick Grayson, was indeed, Robin.

Dick snatched his brothers mask off, putting it in his back pocket. He quickly headed back to the house, seeing that Tim was bluffing, he had about another 10 seconds.

Kory caught up with him, holding open the door as he walked in, the team not far behind him.

"Rachel, we're in some deep crap," Garfield whispered, following Dick through the hall.

"No kidding you are," she responded.

"Oh, no," Victor argued, "You were in the car, same as us."

"Deep crap," Garfield said to himself, "We're all in deep crap."

* * *

><p>AN: And...TADA! I did it. NOW REVIEW! JK, jk. Well, I was serious, but...yeah okay, I'll quite while im ahead. Anyway, feel no anger towards Dick, he's under a lot of pressure, kay? Even though, how could you be so mean to Tim?

Anyway, do please review. Or review please. Review if you hate the story. Love it. Kind of like it. Sort of hate it. Well, just everyone review. Simple.


	14. Fashion Frenzy

Thank your reviews because that's what got my lazy buns moving again. I honestly feel bad though. I've got about four different stories out right now(Shadow Games, As the World Falls Down, this). I told myself I wouldn't do that. That I would only do one at a time so that this time lapse thing didn't happen but...well...here we are. Hehe.

Still though, you should read my other fics. I'm working on Shadow Games sequal- Light Games. Original, right?

Anyway, enjoy this. I'll go back and fix errors later. I just wanted to get this out. A Guest reviewer reviewed and I put my butt in full speed.

* * *

><p>_-_TT_-_<p>

It was big. No. Huge. No. Bigger than huge. Humongous. _No. _Bigger.

Victor couldn't believe his eyes. Or, eye rather.

This huge mansion was the house of one of his best friends. He took pictures with his hidden eye. To normal people, it just made the holographic eye look like a bit of light reflected out of it.

One...no, _two, _of his best friends lived...or used to live...here.

Robin and...no, Dick and Nick Grayson, lived here. Which brought up a problem. Dick, as in Richard and Nickolas Grayson, was Robin and Blue Jay. Two of Gotham's richest teens were two of the world greatest heroes.

Heavy.

The whole situation was a bit confusing. Victor tried to take everything he knew about the Grayson twins and compare it to the hero twins. The Graysons, or so it seemed, were just spoiled rich kids. Orphans who got lucky. They partied every chance they got. Were clumsier than any other human being in the world. Flirted too much. Brought _way _too much stuff (which explained Blue J...Nicks...unhealthy shopping habits). And traveled more than any other celebrity he could think of.

The hero twins, though, were hardheaded. Dark. Broody. Ninja, heroes. They hardly ever put themselves first, preferring instead to throw their own lives into danger for the sake of others. They never had fun. Always stayed up late, working. And didn't leave the city if they could help it.

It was the perfect disguise. The hero and Grayson twins were the exact opposites of each other. Besides the black hair, they had nothing in common.

Victor looked to Garfield, who still followed Dick down the hall. Gar, seemed to shake a little. He bit his nails and twitched at any sound he heard. Yeah, Gar was scared. No doubt about the things he and Gar had said in the car. Thinking back, they were _a little _harsh. Okay no, they were horrible things.

Had he and Gar been the ones to make Nick sick?

Victor hoped not. Nick was one of the nicest people he knew. Yeah, he possessed some of his brothers, meaner qualities, but still, he tried to stay on the bright side of things. Between him and his brother, Nick was the happier, more open of the two.

Dick led everyone up the stairs, a dark haired boy running down the hallway to join them. Victor had to do a double take. The dark headed boy looked just like Dick and Nick. With the black hair and pale skin and blue eyes, he could easily be mistaken for Grayson.

"Dude," Garfield whispered to him, "What do you think he'll say when he wakes up?"

"'Get me an aspirin'" Victor told him lightly.

"I'm serious!" Gar half yelled, half whispered. "He can kick our butts _and_ ban us from any future gifts. I don't know about you, but _I _want a future gift from these guys."

"Chill, Gar," Victor said, "Your overreacting."

"No, _your _under-reacting_._ We said some pretty nasty words back there. How are we gonna get ourselves off the hook?"

Victor thought for a moment, "The same way we do with Ro-Dick. We use, Star."

"It probably wont work as well."

"Doesn't matter. Star, can change any guy's mind. Dick's twin brother included."

"Alright," Gar said, still looking shaken, "But if this doesn't work, we're dead."

Dick was pretty sure Victor and Garfield had no idea he could hear them, and honestly, he wasn't sure if it was normal that he could hear them anyway. They were hanging back and were whispering, yet Dick's ears still twitched at them.

He wasn't sure what exactly they were talking about or what it had to do with his brother and him, (or why his brother was passed out anyway) but he blocked them with his mind. He had more important things to worry about than their weird, uncomfortable ogling. Technically, yes, this was his house. But in a way, it really wasn't.

"I guess we're going somewhere important," Rachel said, coming up beside him.

Dick kicked open Nick's old room door, "Dropping off some weight, then we find my step-dad."

"And he's the _real _reason we're here, I'm guessing."

"He's our backup help. Not that I need it."

"Famous last words."

Dick laid his brother on his old bed, oddly enough, it was still huge compared to him. It could probably fit about 5 more people.

Looking back once, he made his way out the room.

"So..." Garfield said, coming up from behind him. "Are we going to get some kind of briefing or have a meeting or something."

"Cant," Dick responded, "Too many people in here. Paparazzi are everywhere. And...I have a untamed situation in my kitchen."

"Well, then what are we doing?" Victor asked.

"We," Dick said, "are looking for my step-dad. As in, the whole reason we're here."

"You mean-" Garfield gasp, "That...Bruce Wayne...your step-dad is...aw man."

"I don't see how you could find him in this place," Rachel said, "with all these doors, who knows where he could be."

"This place may seem big," Dick said, "But most of these rooms are spares and empty. There are only a hand full of places he could be. Starting with his room."

Without knocking, Dick pushed opened a double doored room. He walked in, his ears and eyes pealed, but, apparently it was empty. The bed was neatly made, a hanger lay on one of the many sofas in the room, and the bathroom had a towel on the floor.

"He's not here," Dick said, leaving the room. "But he's already had his shower and is dressed. He's probably either in the kitchen, or outside talking."

"Dude," Garfield said, "I know we're in a rush and everything, but is it necessary to speed walk everywhere. I mean, don't you have an escalator or elevator or...moving carpets that carry you to the next room?"

Dick barely cast a glance back at Garfield. He should of known he'd take to this new view of a lifestyle much more dimly than the others. Moving carpets? What kind of lazy person would even _want _that?

Leading the team in what would seem like a maze of rooms and hallways, he stopped them just outside the kitchen. The smell of honey roasted ham and baking cheese filled everything within a

foot radius. Alfred's famous mac and cheese, Dick presumed.

Peaking around the bend, he saw that the kitchen was empty. _Where would his parents be? _Or rather, _where __**could **__his parents be? _They didn't know the house. Didn't even know the owner of house. Where could they go, without, a guide...or a map?

"Its empty." Rachel said. "And the kitchen doesn't look very, 'untamed'."

"It should be," Dick said, cautiously entering.

"Food!" Victor and Garfield said, simultaneously, only to be stopped by Dick.

"No one," he told them, "is to touch that food. If Alfred finds out-"

"If Alfred finds out what?" came a voice.

Dick could tell it was Alfred just by the proper way he walked. His face was obscured by a large cake he was holding, clearly decorated by himself. Really, what couldn't Alfred do?

Despite his previous feelings of out-of-controlness, he smiled in anticipation. Who didn't want to see Alfred? And greeted by a giant cake? Maybe his day wouldn't be so bad after all.

Alfred put the cake down, wiping his brow as he looked up to who had addressed him. Surprised crossed his face and then, the rarely shown, genuine 'Alfred Smile.' Dick wasted no time greeting the man with a hug. Alfred patted his back lightly, as if he was afraid Dick would break.

"Master Dick," he said, "If I may say so myself, its about time you arrived."

"I _really _wish someone would tell me what was going on," Dick grit out, "I'm going from one problem to another, here."

"You haven't met master Timothy, yet?"

"Who Tim? Oh yeah, I've met him. But what does he have to do with anything? _Me_, in particular."

Alfred smiled a bit, causing Dick to groan. "Your not going to tell me, are you."  
>"Perhaps this is karma," he said, putting something in the oven, "Had you of stayed in touch better, you'd be well aware of what was going on. Especially right now, you are well needed around here."<p>

Dick rolled his eyes, he could definitely scratch Alfred off the list of people who would answer one of his questions.

"Wheres Bruce?"

"I presumed he was in the shower."

"Not anymore he's not."

"Perhaps hes outside, then."

"Alright," Dick groaned, he had another maze of hallways to go down.

"Wheres Nick?" Alfred said, basting a large ham, "He _is _here, is he not?"

"Yeah, hes here. Just, taking a nap."

Dick left, knowing Alfred didn't believe the nap thing at all. Better yet, Alfred was probably on his way to check up on Nick at the moment.

"We're not going anywhere where people are going to take pictures, right?" Rachel asked, the hoodie hood already going up.

"People are probably taking pictures now," he told her, "Besides, this is just a conference. Its the interviews people get nervous for."

"You mean I'm on TV?" Garfield asked, excited, "Rachel quick, which side is my best side? Left or right?"

"Unfortunately, for you," she said, "They both look the same."

"Your just mad that your hair isn't blonde like mine," he said, sticking out his tongue.

Turning a corner, Dick peered through a window. Sure enough, Bruce was outside, that phony smile of his on and his face seemingly...dare he say it...happy. To any other eyes, he may of seemed genuine, but to Dick, he looked uptight and eager to get the conference over with.

"I should be out there." Tim said, coming up beside him. "I'm late."

Dick barely glanced at Tim, "Then go."

The look on Tim's face said it all. He may have been media-orientated, but walking out in front of a crowd of people who had cameras and were waited for you to fall or trip was nerve racking. Dick had by far gotten over that stage-fright feeling, but even he counted his steps and looked for cracks in the ground when he crossed in front of people.

It turned out, thankfully for Tim, that he didn't need to. Bruce put his hand up, signaling the end of this conference and headed back towards the house. Flashes went off in the last minute view of him, and voices raised as they tried to get him to answer just one more question. But he was done, and Dick could see he was tired of smiling.

Tim immediately went over to him first. Bruce closed the door behind him and raised an eyebrow at Tim, causing Tim to lower his head. Dick inwardly cringed. The eyebrow of shame and disappointment. Ouch. He was glad he didn't have to deal with the wordless looks anymore.

A bright flash filled the room and Dick immediately put a smile on his face and turned to greet the person who took the picture.

It was just Rochelle Dirk, a regular Wayne stalker. She had her camera out and a tape recorder in her other hand. She pressed the red button on the side and made her way over to Bruce as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Hi Bruce," she said, completely at ease.

"Hello Rochelle," he said, leaning against the wall, just as casual with her.

"Few questions? Just for the Gotham Times."

"Just a few."

"Alright, first one- Dick?"

Dick looked from the window he had been staring at and looked to Rochelle. She had the typical reporter look of being startled and giddily happy that she had gotten a bit of news no one else had had.

"When did you get here?" she asked, and Dick just shrugged. "Mind if I switch my subject?"Rochelle said, looking to Bruce, who just shrugged.

"So, how have you been Dickie?"

He really hated when she called him that. "Chill, I guess. You know, until now. Its kind of hard to remain nonchalant when so much is going on."

_And of course it would be easier if he knew just what he was talking about. Was this a politics thing or more about the children and animals?_

"What _is _your take on all of this?" she said, and Dick found himself raking his brain for a neutral answer.

"He's ecstatic, of course." Tim said, overly cheerful and unfortunately, saving the day for Dick.

Dick rolled his eyes playfully, much like he would do if Nick said something completely ridiculous. "We're all excited. Even Alfred."

"Have you two bonded," Rochelle asked, "You know, brotherly games or something?"

_What the heck was this lady talking about? Either way, at least he knew Tim had something to do with it. That was as good as a hint as he was probably going to get, anyway._

"Oh sure. We do things all the time," Tim lied, expertly, albeit. "He took me fishing just a few weeks ago. I've never caught trout before."

"Me either." Dick said, honestly, "It was...an experience."

"Yeah, Dick stuck himself with the the hook." Tim said, and Dick looked at him sideways.

_If he was going to make up a fishing trip, at least he could say Dick was an amazing fisher. Or something._

"Yeah, well Tim nearly cried when he saw the live worms."  
>"Did not!" Tim objected, a pout on his face.<p>

"Did too," Dick shot back.

"No I didn't. _You _were the one who couldn't keep his balance on the boat."

"Well you-"

"Boys," Bruce cut in, "Please. Try and keep the peace."

"Actually," Rochelle said, "That was perfect, and I think I have all I need. Thanks boys." she called over her shoulder as she made her down the hall.

Dick waited until he heard the front door closed before he turned back to Bruce.

"Exactly what am I excited for, again."

"My adoption, of course." Tim said, knowing he had finally let the cat out of the bag.

A row of purple lepanthes pots blew up, but Dick's face didn't change, nor did he turn his face towards Tim. He just continued looking at Bruce. "No seriously," he said, "What was I super excited for?"

Bruce didn't answer. He just walked around Dick and headed down the hall.

"Bruce," Dick followed, complete disbelief in him. "You cant be serious. You mean, while I was away, you just decided to adopt? What happened to telling me or Nick? That's kind of something we should know!"

Bruce didn't even seem to acknowledge him. Was he still mad at him? Was Dick getting the silent treatment? Did Bruce even _give _the silent treatment? It really wasn't like Bruce.

"Hello?" Dick asked, waving a hand in his face. "Bruce?"

Bruce snatched Dick's hand from thin air. Dick cringed. The grip was _tight. _Dick was spun, and in an instant, his own arm was used to choke himself. A typical move that he could of avoided, he just hadn't expected it from Bruce.

Dick's other hand came up, and he tried to pry Bruce's grip from his wrist, but instead of letting go, Dick was tossed through the air and into one of Alfred favorite glass tables. Several deep cracks ran up the wall from Dick's lack of concentration. The cracks stopped just short of the roof and he was glad he hadn't caused the entire ceiling to fall down.

Bruce moved on, seemingly unfazed at Dick's position.

"Dude," Garfield said, running into the room, "What is _with _your step-dad?"

"Yeah, man." Victor said, helping him out the destroyed table, "He's as bad as Rachel's dad. And that's saying a lot."

Dick stumbled back a bit, his hand going to his head, where he could feel blood starting to flow. He couldn't believe Bruce had just did that, and all he could think to say was "Alfred's gonna kill me."

Kory suddenly rushed, her face full of panic.

"Where have you been?" Dick asked, not quite knowing when she had disappeared. He hadn't worried because she probably knew the house as good as he did, with their powers and all.

"I was keeping 'the eye' on you parents." she said, her hand going to where his head was bleeding. She pulled a piece of glass from his hair and dropped it to the floor, her eyes, worried.

Dick's hand went to her head, where a cut, in the same place as his own, was beginning to bleed. "Sorry," he murmured, and for a moment, he couldn't decide whether he had spoke or if he just said it low.

"You alright?" Rachel asked, walking over, "You don't look or sound too good."

"I'm fine," he said, but even he knew it sounded slow and slurred.

"What in heavens name?" came a voice.

"Sorry 'bout the table." Dick said, receiving a curious glance from Alfred.

"Its just a table." Alfred said, grabbing Dick's shoulders and directing him out the destroyed room. "Right now, we must prepare you and your friends for the party tonight. Its mandatory that you attend. Stylists are going to want to look at all of you."

"Did you say stylists?" Garfield asked, his eyes full of stars.

"Yes," Alfred said slowly, "Under normal circumstances, I would tend to you myself. But with so many of you and a house to clean, I feel professionals will be a better choice.

"Here that Rae," Victor teased, "You got stylists waiting to meet you."

Rachel groaned.

"I'd like to take a look at your head, master Dick." Alfred continued, "And yours too, miss." he said, directing his attention to Kory.

Dick murmured something unintelligible, but sat on the stairs, and waited for Alfred.

"I'll just be a moment, I'll just take your friends to the stylists." Alfred said, waiting for the others to follow him.

Alfred led them down the hall. Dick had a nasty cut on his head, as did the girl. He was worried. Bruce had to have something to do with that, but what happened to the rest of the room? The cracks in the wall and the rows and rows of his dead lepanthes. Bruce wouldn't, couldn't, do that. Right?

"Do you think they'll make me look pretty Rae?" Garfield said, teasing her with the idea of makeup and beauty. "They'll probably paint your nails pink and put lip gloss on you. And do your hair and give you eye shadow."

Rachel growled, "If you see anyone coming near me with makeup or the color pink, I want you two to know that I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what Rae?" Victor asked

"For whatever happens next." she said simply.

"Here we are." Alfred said, opening a door and revealing a big room that looked like several clothing shops and hair salons all squeezed into one room. "I leave you in the hands of the stylists."

A light burst and Garfield laughed, knowing Rachel had seen the rack of pink clothing.

"Oh. My. Gawd." a man said coming over.

He was tall. Very skinny. Had a very neat haircut with blonde highlights. And somehow, he just screamed fashion.

"What on _earth _am I going to do with you three?" he gushed, "Everything has to go, like Macy's after Christmas."

"Chris," a short girl with purple highlights said, rushing to him, "You know how bad Nick's hair is. You cant just leave us!"

"Honey, chill." Chris, said, looking Garfield's clothing up and down and looking back at the racks, "Do you see what I'm working with? Just keep spraying and trying to run a comb though it. I'll see what I can do in a minute."

Victor and Garfield shared a look before peeking behind Chris and into the salon/shop. Sure enough, Nick sat in one of the chairs while several girls tried to un-stick a comb in his hair. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, and Gar was glad of it. Maybe the pain would distract his eyes and he wouldn't see him.

"No pink." Chris said, looking at Rachel. "So not your color."

"I wouldn't wear it even if you thought so." Rachel said evenly.

"Ooh spunk." he laughed. "I like it. No, I love it. Its so...goth."

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I got it." Chris said, beaming, "Goth princess. Oh, I've got the perfect thing."

Alfred turned away and closed the door. They seemed taken care of. Even though, it would seem Rachel would clash several times with Chris. Chris was...well, loud and happy and energetic. Not at all like Rachel was.

He grabbed a first aid kit on his way back down the hall. He stopped, seeing Tim rushing down the hallway.

"Hey-bye Alfred." he said, not even stopping. "Chris is gonna kill me."

Where that boy disappeared to all the time was a mystery. He was there one moment and gone the next. It was like Dick and Nick all over again. But where he lacked in a twin, he gained in hiding places. Alfred was beginning to think Bruce was building ones for him. But no. Bruce was acting strange lately and Alfred doubted he had any time for hiding place building.

A loud chime sounded through the hall and Alfred hurried to the front door to answer it.

"Sup, Alfred." Barbara said, walking in. "How goes thing?"

"Just fine if you don't count the messes."

"Oh, it'll be gone in an instant with you around." she laughed.

"I heard Dick was in town." she said, seemingly nonchalant, "Is he here?"

"As a matter of fact-"

"-No. Don't answer that. I don't want to know. I don't even want to see him until I'm all dressed up for tonight. He _is _coming, right?"

"He is, indeed."

"Great. Anyway, I just wanted to stop and see what Chris thought would be best for me to wear and though I'd stop by to say hi."

"Always a pleasure, miss."

"Anyway, I have to find a friend of mine. Kory Anders. I met her at the train station. We where supposed to go shopping for tonight."

"Ms. Anders is here, as a matter of fact."

"Really? You know her? She really gets around, huh. Could you get her? I'd search myself, but I don't want to risk running into anyone."

"Of course." and with that, Alfred left down the hall.

It really took a special person to be a butler. So much multitasking.

"Mrs. Anders." he said, finding them on the steps where he left them. "Ms Gordon is here for you."

Kory slapped her head. She had forgotten all about Barbara.

"I thank you." she said, rushing to the front door.

"Hey girlie." Barbara said, waving at her. "You look frantic, whats up?"

"Nothing?" Kory asked, hoping she answered the phrase right.

"Ready to go?"

Before Kory could answer, a tall man with brown hair and blonde highlights came running down the hall towards her.

"Barbara, good your here."

"Hey Chris." she said, "Chris. Kory. Kory. Chris."

Kory could barely answer before Chris shoved a bit of a magazine at her. "I was scared you'd left already. When I heard there was _another _girl I had to dress, I had to hurry up and find something for you to wear."

"I hope you expect her to wear more than that." Barbara said, pointing at the paper Kory held.

"Girl, shut up." Chris said, playfully pushing Barbara. "I had to go on your friends descriptions and picked this out of a magazine. You two can buy it at Trend Setter. Barbara I'm sure you can find something in there too. Go for...something green, okay?"

"Gotcha." Barbara said, pushing Kory to the door. "Thanks Chris."

"-And," Chris said, blocking her way, "Go to Hair We Are. I got a guy in there waiting for Kory. He'll do her hair since obviously, I wont be able to."

"Roger," Barbara said, squeezing around him. "We'll do that."

"Plus," Chris said, blocking her again, "Try some stilettos for once, girl. You know you short. You too Kory."

Barbara didn't even answer, she just pushed Kory out the door and closed it behind herself. Barbara grabbed Kory's arm and pulled her to a jeep.

"Sorry," she apologized as she drove off, "But when Chris starts talking, especially about fashion, he is _so _hard to stop. I had to get us out before we missed the party entirely."

Kory laughed, "He was not _that _bad."

"Are you kidding?" Barbara laughed, "Pretty soon he'd be asking about our bra sizes, saying 'Girl, go for the polka dots. You know you like 'em.'"

Kory laughed, "Would he really?"

"Yes he would. And he's pretty good with sizes too. And you know what...the polka dot is my favorite one."

Kory laughed again.

"Soooo," Barbara said, "Hows Richard been? Same as I last heard?"

Kory sighed, "Nothing is new with him."

"Don't worry. Tonight, when we show up like 'BA-BAM', he'll notice you for sure."

"I hope. Any word from John?"

"Yes and no. I know he's here already I'm just...you know, scared. What if we were apart for too long and we're like total strangers to each other?"  
>"Then you'll have a fresh start."<p>

"Yeah, I guess that cool too. You know. Like those lost love types of movies. Oh, here's my turn."

Barbara turned into a big complex.

"Are you ready," she said, "for the shop of your life?"

"I believe I was born ready."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Barbara parked led Kory to the mall entrance. "Its been _forever _since I went shopping with a girl friend. I mean, who has time for this anymore? I guess we should start with Trend Setter. If we don't, Chris will lecture me and I do _not _think I'm physically or mentally or emotionally, for that fact, ready for one of those."

"I will follow you." Kory said, gawking at the big mall they were entering.

"Not quite like your hometown, huh?"

"No..." she trailed off.

"This is definitely a one of a kind place. But with this unique-ness, comes its unique-dangers. We're still in Gotham, so this place isn't known for its good customers. We'll stick together, okay."

Kory nodded as Barbara looped their arms together. They walked, Barbara knowing exactly where it was they were headed. It didn't even take long, or so it seemed to Kory since they were laughing and talking so much, to reach Trend Setter.

With her magazine cutout, Kory set out to find the dress. Barbara was on the lookout for green, so Kory went straight to a manager, a bored blonde who kept popping her gum.

"Excuse me," Kory said, walking over to her, "Can you help me."

The blonde gave her, what Raven...or Rachel, now, called the 'once over'. Seemingly sizing her up. But it seemed the blonde didn't even care. She just popped another bubble, but she stood straighter and Kory had to guess that meant she'd help.

"I'm looking for this dress." Kory handed the paper to the girl, who for a moment just looked at her.

Seemingly angry with Kory for interrupting her hobby of doing nothing, she popped another bubble before walking down one of the isles. Kory was two minutes from snatching the gum from the girls mouth and shoving it down her throat. The useless popping was really starting to fray her nerves.

"Anything else?" she asked, her eyes pleading, almost begging Kory to say no.

Even if Kory did have something she needed help with, she certainly wouldn't want this girl to help her.

"No. I am fine." she said, smiling sweetly.

The girl walked off and Kory forced herself to take a deep breath. She didn't need anymore random episodes. Back at the manor, she had been on her way back to her friends before she had suddenly unleashed a bubble of power. She had burst about two windows and the staircase she had been walking under had cracked deeply. That had been how she had known something was wrong with Dick.

Fortunately, he was too damaged, and his cut had stopped bleeding soon, as did hers. But the strain on her emotions was so new to her. She was so used to feeling however she wanted putting a leash on that was hard.

Grabbing the dress, she peered back at Barbara who had two dresses in her hand, seemingly trying to choose one. Kory just wanted to quickly try on her dress, to make sure it fit and that she liked it. Chris was...persistent on what he wanted her to wear, but if she didn't like it, she wouldn't wear it.

Saying she was trying on the dress was easy. Actually getting it on? Not so much.

The material wasn't really a stretchy one, it didn't even feel comfortable. Her skirt felt so different than this. Even her jeans were softer. This material, though a beautiful shade of green, was tight and heavy.

She mainly had trouble getting the dress over her shoulders. She figured once that was done, she have the dress on without a problem. She was just glad she hadn't tried to step into it. Her hips would be stuck sure.

Finally, and without tearing, the dress gave way and she was able to pull it over her shoulders. After another few dreadful moments of trying to pull her arms up through it, the fabric finally fell, flowing far over her feet.

She twirled a bit, smiling when the fabric settled around her feet. The top started out mermaid-like, and wound its way down and out into a flowing long ripple of different shades of ember cloth. The sequins at the top was...a bit much for her, as was the criss-crossing strips of material that hardly hid her back. It dropped so low, she could see the top of her underwear, meaning she'd need to find another pear.

Wasn't this a bit much? She couldn't decide. The dress was beautiful, that much was clear, but it was so extravagant. It really wasn't much her style. But Chris was the professional. Maybe she didn't look as bad as she thought. Maybe Richard would like it. He might even ask her to dance.

So, she decided she'd get. That is, _if _she could take it off.

She was upside down, floating and flying and trying to get the dress over her shoulders again, when Barbara knocked on the door.

"Kory? You in there?" Barbara asked, "I want to show you my dress."

Tugging hard, Kory freed herself from the dress, and quickly got back into her regular clothes. She swung open the door and smiled. Barbara had on a simple, black dress that stopped just before her knees. The dress was loose fitting, much comfier looking than Kory's. The shoes she had on made her much taller than Kory and the green earrings and necklace tied the outfit together.

"I wanted to look simple, but elegant. I was thinking about having my hair in a loose, kinda sloppy bun."

"You look glorious." Kory cooed. "Your shoes are beautiful."

"Thanks, but we still need to get you some, too. Did you already try on your dress?"

Kory sighed, remembering the hard effort she had gone through. "I did."

"Then I wont ask you to put it back on, but tell me, how long is it."

"Past my feet."

"Does it hug you?"

Kory thought for a moment, "It does feel a bit like a hug, but it flares out at the bottom."

"Nice. What color?"

"The same as your necklace."

"Chris is a genius. I hate to say it, but its true. This color matches your eyes great. But more importantly, and possibly the neck-breaker, how low in the front does it go?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does it show a bit of...you know...cleavage. See mine is a high heart neck. Not much cleavage, but that's because I don't want too seem desperate to John, y'know?"

Kory was still lost, so she got the dress and handed it to Barbara, who whistled.

"I hope you don't have a lot of weight up front girl, cause this is probably the lowest halter top I've ever seen."

"What should I do?" Kory asked, frantic.

"Flaunt it," Barbara laughed, but suddenly got serious."But for the love of all that is good. Only flaunt it to Richard, okay."

Kory nodded. Apparently flaunting, whatever that meant, was a serious deal that only Richard should know about. She'd ask Rachel about it later.

"Shoes." Barbara said with a snap of her fingers. "We need shoes. Ever try stilettos?"

When Kory shook her head, Barbara laughed. "The Caribbeans" she said, "My next destination of choice."

After changing from her party clothes, Barbara led Kory down some isles and to a whole shoe department.

When Kory had first heard the word 'stilettos', food came to mind. Food had all types of weird names. Why that would be associated with feet was beyond her, but she didn't question anything. But when Barbara held up a pair shoes with a tall stick-looking thing on the end, she knew she had been wrong.

She had never worn anything other than her boots the sneakers Richard brought her and a pair of pink fuzzy slippers Cyborg... Victor hand gotten her.

"Just try them on," Barbara encouraged, "If your dress is as long as you say, a pair of flats wont cut it. Even with these shoes, the dress with still drag a bit, but at least it'll look elegant, y'know?"

Kory groaned. These things looked more like a weapon than a fashion item, but Barbara widened her eyes and put a small smile on her face. It wasn't Beast Boys 'kitten look', but it got its point across. So, huffing, she sat in one of the chairs and slid off her sneakers.

"Socks too," Barbara said, as if that one thing might decide whether or not Kory would try on the shoes.

Kory slid off her socks and stuck her feet in the shoes. She shrugged, they felt pretty comfortable.

"Ready?" Barbara asked, getting a nod from Kory. "Alright, this is the hard part."

Barbara grabbed Kory's arm and helped her up.

"Your not even wobbling," Barbara gasped, "You sure you've never wore heals?"

"This is completely new to me," Kory told her.

"Wow. You just must have amazing balance."

Thinking back, Kory could remember at least 20 different balance training exercises Robin made her do. He told her she was just as good on a type rope as he was. And that was saying a lot. But she guessed flying all her life gave her a pretty good sense as well.

"Well if you can walk like that on your own," Barbara said, "Those shoes are definitely coming with us."

Waiting in line, Barbara couldn't stand still.

"I cant help it," she squealed, "Its been years. What if he doesn't recognize me? What if he thinks I'm ugly? Or worse yet, what if he has a girlfriend or likes someone else? I would _so _have to take her down. Or wait, what if he hates me."

"Barbara," Kory said, handing the cashier the credit card she never gave back to Richard from the taxi ride, "What if he remembers you and loves you more than ever? We can not know until tonight."

Barbara squealed, "I feel so much better. You should write a movie or something. I would totally love that chick-flick."

From Trend Setter, they made their way to Hair We Are, which was a name Kory was highly confused about.

"Oh, gorgeous." said a man, when Barbara and Kory walked in. "Yes, definitely gorgeous. Kory?"

The man flicked his head at her. When Kory nodded her bowed and kissed her hand, "We will hook you _and _your friend up, darling. Believe me."

After dozens of questions about whether her hair and eyes was really that color, taking out her dress and showing about 20 different people, and 10 excruciating minutes of nail and hair prep work, a facial lady came in.

"You'll totally love this," Barbara sang, "My favorite part of pampering. All we have to do is sit back, and relax. I _know _I'm getting wrinkles from thinking about boys all day."

Kory sat back in a black chair. Her hair was being washed, her nails done, and the facial lady was putting a cold gel on her face, all simultaneously. It felt weirder than it did good. She remembered all the pampering and prep time she spent back on her planet. It seemed as if those stylists, and even the ones here on earth, never quite finding things to change about her.

But Barbara was having fun, and so she decided she'd try too.

Back at the manor, on the other hand, fun was not the subject.

"I'm a guy," Garfield complained, "Why are you filing my toe nails? No one is even gonna see them."

"Your toe. Very bad." a young Asian woman said, cutting too close on his nail and causing him to yelp.

"We will talk with respect to Grace," Chris called over to Garfield, "She's the best around."

Garfield frowned, the man cutting his hair yanking his head back into position rather harshly.

"No one filed Rachel's," he complained.

"Her toe. Good." the lady said, seemingly thinking fondly about Rachel's feet.

"Admit it," Rachel said beside him, her hair in a dryer and her eyes not looking up from her magazine, "Your just mad that it takes more work to make you look normal than you thought."

"Stop moving," a woman said angrily at Victor. "I cant shine your head if all that stays still is your back."

"Oh my gosh!" Chris said walking over, "What is the problem? Why cant you guys just act like Dickie, over their. He's not causing any problems."

"He's asleep," Victor groaned, "Alfred must of given him some medicine for his head or something."

"He's not sleep," Chris said walking over.

Chris inspected Dick's face and poked him in the cheek. Dick just flinched, but he didn't move other wise.

"Yeah, he's sleep." Chris clarified. "But so what. That's a good thing. Let him sleep. _His _stylists aren't complaining."

Grace yelled something in Asian at Garfield and slammed a nail file on the floor.

"His toe, hopeless." she said, frustrated.

Chris shook his head. "I am so gonna get crinkles in my skin after this. Timothy! Where are you?"

Tim sat up from one of the chairs, causing the woman washing his hair to swear loudly.

"Cynthia," Chris ticked at her, "Your language in front of the children."

She growled, but didn't talk back to Chris.

"And thus," Chris continued, "We know why I waited to make Timothy get dressed. No big deal, girl. Calm down. Lets get a move on people! T-minus 30 minutes till I want to see everyone lined up, dressed and ready. Timothy, sit still. Megan isn't one to be patient."

"Would you stop calling me Timothy," Tim complained, "Your the only one who does."

"Isn't that your name, boo?" Chris asked, "Nick! Wheres Nickie?"

"Over here Chris," said the woman with purple highlights, "I finally got the comb through his whole head."

"Good, good. Cut the ends off for me, Cashmere. They look kinda scraggly."

"Already in process," she told him.

"So, Nickie." Chris said walking over to him, "You and Dickie got a new brother. I'm sure your just giddy, huh."

"Oh yeah, giddy." Nick responded.

Though this wasn't exactly how Nick wanted to be told that while he and Dick were away, Bruce had gone through all the trouble to adopt another kid, it didn't bother him as much as it probably did Dick. Bruce probably got all lonely with it just being him and Alfred and did something he was used too, adopting boys. Or, a boy, in this case.

"Wheres my cell phone?" Chris yelled, "I need to call Barbara and Kory. OMG, why couldn't she just let me hook the girl up?"

Nick flinched. He had known Chris for about five or six years, and still, that shrill voice of his never got any softer.

"Speed dial, speed dial." Chris chanted as he punched in the number. "Pick up, pick up."

"Barbara-" came her happy, seemingly totally relaxed voice.

"Girl, where are you?" Chris asked, "I'm growing gray hairs over here."

"Aw Chris, chill. We got the dresses and the shoes and we're getting out hair done."

"You ran into Bobby, right. He's doing Kory's hair?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. All taken care of."

"Tell him I want her hair up. Sloppy, like. And I want beads in it. White ones. You know, the little pearl looking ones and don't let him put it in her hair if their not sparkly and shiny."

"Okay Chris. I got cha."

"And don't let them put a lot of make up on her. She doesn't need it. Just a bit of mascara and blush. Maybe a dab of eyeshadow. But that's it, okay?"

"Chris-"

"-Oh! And gloss. Give the girl some lip gloss. Pinkish-red. I don't want it to clash with her hair too much."

"Chri-"

"-You got the girl some heels right? I know how long that dress is and she's not that tall. Please tell me you got her some heels."

"Yes, Chris. I got her some-"

"Hurry with the hair. Tell Bobby this is a major mega six alert, alright? He'll know what to do."

"Chris, please. I got it. I wont forget and-"

"Barbara, you talk too much girl. I got to go. But you focus on getting Kory back here. I want to make sure she's done right. Okay? Okay. Bye."

He hung up the phone, but didn't even take a deep breath before he began yelling again. "Timothy, I forgot to measure your feet! Grace! Grace, come measure Timothy's feet for me. Rachel, I think your done. Go to Tony, he'll make sure your right. Victor! What in gods name are you doing just standing there? C'mere so I make sure your suit fits right. Garfield... you better not take a bite of that apple. After that whitening, I didn't think you'd even want to _look _at food. Oh. My. Gawd, he bit it. Helen, come whiten Garfield's teeth again."

Tim laughed. Loud. It was even louder than Chris's yelling. The whole thing was hilarious. Watching Rachel threaten the makeup artists. Watching Grace yell at Garfield in Asian... especially since Tim could understand her. Victor's painful head wax. Hilarious.

But looking at Dick his laughter died a bit. He looked better than before. He was still pale, but, so was Nick. They were always pale. Nick took the adoption news better than Dick did, but Tim couldn't be sure. He didn't talk much, and he especially avoided Garfield and Victor. The two of them looked terrified of Nick.

Hilarious.

But he wondered how Kory was doing. So far, she was the closest to him, so he figured he could trust her best with his secret. He had his whole night played out. He'd go to the party, play the role of the good adopted son. Look all buddy-buddy with Nick and Dick. But he'd keep a close eye on Bruce. Then after the party, he'd find Kory and tell her what had been going on.

Originally, he had hoped Dick would help him out, but he was starting to second guess his number one option. Maybe Dick was just stressed. He clearly didn't know anything about the adoption, so what had brought him here?

He shook his head, getting a whispered curse from Cynthia. He ignored her, but his mind was still heavy. He may have been running out of time, and he was wasting a lot of it now. What would happen if Bruce's clock hit zero?

He mentally shook his head, annoyed with Cynthia, time was of the essence, now.

* * *

><p>AN: Jeez. Did this in two days. On top of all my school work. The end of my term is tomorrow. TOMORROW PEOPLE. But I love ya guys too much to care. Review and maybe I'll kick my Algebra teacher in the face and get another chapter out. Oh yeah, Ryan would love that.

_ScarleDrake


	15. Parties Are Supposed To Be Fun

Well guys hey. Got this out quick, huh. Well, you know, I really do try. Just so you know.

WARNING: A bit...well no, a lot of OOC in this chappy. Sorry to all. I know how you like your IC (in character) fics. Again, errors I will fix later, when I have time.

Enjoy.

Oh, and also. its got a little fluff in it. I've had some fluff requests. The REAL fluff will be in the next chapter, you'll see why it's needed soon enough.

Again, enjoy!

* * *

><p>oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

"You'll probably ride with Bruce tonight, but I'll see you at the party okay?"

Kory smiled at Barbara as she drove off. Barbara would come in and help her get ready but... Chris was inside, and that was reason enough for her not to. With her many bags in tow, Kory made her way inside. She planned to just sneak up the stairs to-

"Kory!"

She turned towards Chris's piercing voice. He rushed down the hall, looked inside her bags, and dragged down the hall.

"I told Barbara," he complained. "I wanted you here at six _sharp. _Sharp. But no. Its quarter to seven and I have to fix your hair and get you dressed. Your leaving at quarter to nine. _Nine._"

Two things were wrong. A) She had plenty of time. And B) Why _did _he need to dress her? She thought her hair looked fine and she barely had on any makeup, the way she would have preferred. But she was beginning to understand Chris. He micromanaged things and preferred to do them himself, even if he didn't have the time to.

All she could do was nod her head at him. If he wanted to throw all of his attention at her, let him. She knew how to cooperate with stylists and makeup artists. She was so used to this pampering. All she had to do was pretend she was a doll. She had to let people contort her and shift her anyway they wanted. Then in the end, everyone would be happy.

"Cynthia!" Chris yelled.

"Yes, Chris?" yelled a woman who ran over, standing at attention.

"I want Kory's hair fixed. I want it further up with more hair hanging down. Curl the straggly ones a little more. I want spirals. And more pearls. Shes our princess here, let's make her look like one."

"Sure thing, Chris."

"And put the pearls kinda crown-like. Shes our princess, remember."

"Absolutely, Chris. Great idea."

"Micheal!"

A tall man, bulky, like Victor came over.

"Whats wrong, boo?" he asked.

"Help get Kory into her dress. I want her ready soon."

"Wheres your bags, honey?"

Kory wordlessly pointed to where she had left them at the door. Was this big, bulky, _man _going to dress her? That was just... uncomfortable. He looked so strong. He might tear the dress!

"Gorgeous." Micheal said, coming back, "I love the color."

"I knew you would," Chris laughed. "Now clothes off, girl. This thing is _not_ spandex and it may take a while."

Kory looked around herself, a bit self-conscious.

"No ones here," Chris reassured her, "Everyone else if getting dressed... except you. Now hurry."

_A doll._ She told herself. _Just be a doll and get this over with._

She shed her clothes, pleased when neither Chris nor Micheal seemed concerned with anything but the dress.

"Boo this is gonna be a bit on the tight side." Micheal said, zipping down the zipper.

"That's what we want," Chris explained, "See those curves? You'd never see them under things like that turtle neck. She needs something to hug her."

"You cruel, you know that," Micheal said with a shake of his head, "You know its cold out there, right?"

"That's what men are for," Chris shrugged, "_Someone _will and _better _give this girl they coat. Or I swear I'll take it myself."

"How you gonna get it?"Micheal teased, "You gonna slap somebody?"

"No. Imma throw my Dooney and Burke bag and see who feels it the most in the morning."

Both boys laughed, leaving Kory to feel a little awkward. Like she was somehow interrupting their conversation, even though it was about her. But, they were really helping out with this dress. It seemed to be sliding on without a problem.

"How bout it, boo." Micheal said, directing his attention to her, "Who you got your eye on?"

"No, let me guess." Chris said, leading her over to where Cynthia was waiting. "I'm pretty good at couples."

"No you are not," Micheal titillated, "You _just _broke up with your last boyfriend."

"Yeah and? _I _broke up with _him. _Not the other way around. Now anyway. Is it... Garfield? He's a funny guy."

Kory made a face. Garfield? He was definitely like her little brother. He reminded her so much of Ryan.

"Yeah, your too delicate for him." Chris pondered. "Is it... Nick? He's a sweet guy. Total ladies man."

Kory shook her head again. Nick... he was like a brother too. He wasn't exactly like Ryan, but he was sweet in his own way. He was one of those brothers that was too good to be true. Always there for her, always helping and taking care of her.

"I know," Micheal said, "You like our Dickie. The bad boy, huh."

Kory blushed a bit. She hadn't really thought of Richard as a 'bad boy'. He was the exact opposite. He was a 'good boy'. He helped and took care of people and... why did they just call him 'Dickie'? She was _so _not letting him live that down.

"Oh, girl. You got it bad." Chris raved, "I can see it all in your face. You don't just like this boy."

"Can you blame her?" Micheal added, redoing the red nail polish on her toes.

"No. I can't." Chris confessed, "But I can hate. I can hate hard, too. But I like the image. The sweet exotic princess with the hard city bad boy. Total opposites, and yet completely yin and yang."

"Think about the paparazzi," Micheal said, clicking his tongue.

Chris gasped, "Oh my gawd, your right. We have to make her look _better _than gorgeous, people! She has to shine. No, she has to _glow. _She _needs _to look better than everyone else. She needs to be the best, but not flashy. Such a sweet girl, she'll win over anyone. We just need to make her look fierce. Give her that edge. "

_A doll, _she said again. She didn't need to talk, not that she got the chance, she just needed to be still.

It had been an hour since Kory had first walked in. it was 8: 30 and Chris was louder than ever.

"Let go," he begged as Cynthia put the last beads in her hair, "I told everyone to meet at the front door. _Hurry, _Cynthia."

"Stand up straight, boo." Micheal said, fixing her posture, "I know you were sleep, but divas have to be on the ball."

Kory didn't even remember falling asleep. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it would give her extra energy for the party.

"Perfect." Chris said, backing up to see her fully, "A princess if I ever saw one. And I _have _seen them."

Micheal tst'd at him, but the two of them led her down the hall and towards the others. Immediately shaking their heads at her walk.

"Cross your feet when your walk. Cross them," Chris urged her, "No. No, cross them. _Cross _them. Yeah, like that. Now, step a little harder...whoa, not that hard. You'll break your heels. No- perfect. Yes. Just like that. Keep going."

She felt uncomfortable. But it reminded her of home. Walking a certain way, even if this was new to her.

"Wait here," Micheal said, stopping her before she reached the foyer where everyone else was waiting.

She could already sense Richard waiting. For her or for something else, she couldn't decide. Although, she couldn't help but _wish _he was anxious to see her. She was definitely anxious to see him. The last time she had seen him dressed nice was at the prom kitten forced him on. He had looked to die for. Literally. She felt butterflies in her stomach, just waiting now. He was so much taller than he had been. Maybe he'd look different.

"Chris and I have created a masterpiece," Micheal said, apparently feeling the need to announce her. "We have-"

"Oh shut up," Chris said, pushing him aside and pulling Kory forward. "We don't have time for this... although I agree 100%."

"Nice." Victor whispered, when she was shoved next to him, "But you better keep that dress checked. You wouldn't want me pulling my sonic cannon on some boy at this party, right?"

Kory smiled, but nodded. It did feel a little more revealing than anything she had worn before.

"I feel so much better." Rachel said, beside her, "If I stand behind you all night. No one will notice me."

That caught Kory's attention. She waited until Chris was busy fixing Tim's tie to fully turn to Rachel. She had on a long, black gown. It was just about as long as Kory's herself, but clearly shorter, since Rachel had on flats. The dress was a sleeveless halter top, but fit tightly. Rachel's short hair was tied up into a messy bun and two chop sticks were in it, seemingly being the only thing holding it together. Her nails weren't colored, but she did have on a little makeup.

Kory cast back another glance to make sure Chris and Micheal were busy before she hugged Rachel tightly.

"You look wonderful," she whispered.

Raven didn't return the hug, nor did she smile back, but she blushed a bit, and that was enough for Kory.

"Timothy?" Chris complained, "Why doesn't it look like your hair is done? It is _so _disarrayed. Helen! Get me a comb! And a water spray. And hurry!"

Kory cast a bored look around while Micheal, Helen, and Chris tried to tame Tim's hair. She smiled looking at his smothered and uncomfortable face. Victor and Garfield looked great too. She knew Chris _must _have had that suite made for Victor. He was pretty big and she couldn't figure out how anyone could get the dark blue suite to fit so well.

Nick was the epitome of cool. With his hands in his loose jacket and his tie loosely done, he leaned back against the stairs banister and stared boredly down a random hallway. The black suit fit him perfectly. He didn't button any of the jacket buttons, not even one like Victor did, he just let the suite jacket hang, as if he didn't care what it did.

Garfield smiled goofily, seemingly enjoying the crazed environment. He looked down at his dark plum-colored suit and up at Nick's black one. Making sure Chris wasn't watching, he undid all his suit jacket buttons, like Nick.

"Hey Rae?" he asked, poking around Victor, on to her arm. "Don't I look cool?"

He pushed the jacket back and stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wall, like Nick was doing.

"Wow." she deadpanned, "I think it just got colder in here. It must be you."

Garfield beamed and Kory had to admit it, that was one of the nicest things Raven had ever said to him. Even if it was sarcastic and she didn't mean it. It meant something to Garfield.

"I give up," Chris cried to Tim, "You head is _worse _than Dick _and_ Nick's heads put together. We'll just have to make, yet another, sloppy look work."

Tim smiled at Chris, ostensibly pleased with that choice.

"Wipe that grin off your face, Timothy. It's not funny." he said, dejected.

"Chris," said Tony, the man who had done Rachel's hair, "It's 8:30 and Mr. Wayne is already in the car."

Kory was sure Chris was going to pass out. He had been on his knees, trying to fix Tim's hair, but now, he looked like he'd be more comfortable on his back. His hands shook and it seemed as if suddenly, he had begun sweating profusely.

"Get them outside," he whispered to Micheal, as if it were his last words. "They can't be late."

"You so dramatic," Micheal said, buttoning Garfield's jacket, much to his protest, back up. "They have time."

Kory hung back a bit, waiting for Tim as Chris redid his tie. She heard a snicker and turned to see Rachel hit Garfield upside his head. Apparently, he thought it was hilarious that Rachel had to lift up her dress to get down the front steps.

"Dickie!" Chris shrilled, "Get out here. _Now."_

She had been so captivated by the mood, she had almost forgot about him. She passed right through it in her mind when she didn't see him in the line-up. With Rachel's dress, and Tim's hair, and Victor's buttons, she had almost forgot about the entire reason she was putting up with the high shoes and tight dress.

She and Chris looked up the stairs at them same time, where Richard was hastily tying his tie and getting on one shoe at the same time. His hair was disheveled and his white collar stuck straight up, sticking out of his black jacket.

"Oh lord." Chris breathed, but she barely heard him.

Clearly, he wasn't finished getting dressed. Wasn't even halfway there, and yet, he looked bewitching. She couldn't decide. Was it his bright blue eyes contrasting with the dark suite? His pale skin and dark hair?

She couldn't help but stare at him. At his sloppy suite and loose hanging tie. She stared right into his eyes. She must have stared too hard because the moment he saw her, he stopped tying his tie and his foot, that was nearly in the shoe, had froze as well. And for a moment, all she could do was stare at him. Stare at him staring at her.

Tim ran past her suddenly, and ran out the door, skipping steps and bumping Rachel. A child, true to his nature, but she didn't notice. She couldn't move from her spot. She couldn't look away from his spell, couldn't even breathe right.

"Kory get outside," Chris ushered, "I got three minutes to make whatever Richard is into something presentable."

She heard him, she really did. Even tried to force herself to obey him. She was the doll after all. But she couldn't. She couldn't move, nor turn away from him. And it seemed that Richard was stuck too, because his one shoe that he had left teetering on the edge of the step, fell down. And he didn't even blink.

"I don't have time for this," Chris muttered, clapping in Kory's face.

And still, Kory couldn't move. She was actually a tad ticked off that his hands had dared to obscure such a view. But he grabbed her arm, and with strength she would have never thought _he _could posses, he dragged her to the front door.

She finally snapped out of her dazed staring and opened the screen door for herself, going out into the cool night air. Closing the door gently behind her, she heard heavy footsteps and turned around to see Richard quickly making his way down the stairs, his eyes still on her. She hid a smile, but slowed herself down. She knew somehow, or maybe sensed, that he was trying to catch up with her.

She picked up the bottom of her dress, a practiced procedure, and slowly made her way down the steps, making sure she crossed her feet each step. A limousine waited for her at the bottom of the grand steps. She could see Helen, Micheal, Cynthia, and Cashmere sticking out of the car, seemingly doing some last-minute change-ups.

Her legs were just beginning to ache from the slow, repeated action of crossing her legs and walking down the steps, when a hand grabbed her arm. She turned, not the slightest bit surprised and let her dress fall.

Richard, standing in all his glory, went down a few steps, she he could stand in front of her. His hair was fixed and his tie was done, both shoes were on, and putting it simply, he was absorbing. She knew they were going to get into the starring thing again, if neither of them said or did anything. Soon she'd freeze again, and no one would be able to stop her from looking into his azure pools.

But he broke the ice.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked, the hand that he had never removed from her arm, feeling the goosebumps.

As he spoke, a cloud of his frozen breath hung in the air before dissipating. She hadn't realized how cold it really was until then. Her arms were covered, saved for where his hand was, in bumps and it took everything in her not to shiver or risk messing up her hair or loosing her balance on the big stairs.

"A little," she said, trying to sound normal, "But the car will be warm, as will the party."

She'd of never guessed that looking into his eyes and maintaining normal speech would be a feat for her. Her mind and heart didn't seem to be as in-tune as they normally were. It was as if all her internal body parts were pulling to him. Begging to be closer. She wanted to give him a hug, engrossing herself in the lavish feel of his arms, knowing he'd hug her back. Maybe that would quiet her yearnings to be closer.

"Sorry to interrupt," Chris said, doing just that, "But we really need to go."

Kory nodded and Richards hand fell from her arm.

"What is going on with your collar?" Chris asked, already fixing it.

"It's a fundraiser," he complained, "Not a fashion show."

"Same thing."

Chris led them down the rest of the stairs and just about pushed them both into the car, getting in behind them. He looked at where everyone was sitting and began changing, as if positions really mattered.

"Okay," he said, looking around, "I want Nickie on the end, Dickie, your right next to him. Kory your next and Victor then you. Bruce your on the other side. Tim you next to him and Garfield then its you and then you Rachel."

Dick kept his cool when he sat across from Bruce. He definitely wasn't going to pull anything else on him that day. Crashing into that glass table had hurt. Why, he was thrown he didn't know. In fact, the entire time he was in Gotham, he hadn't even heard Bruce speak. Was he still _that _mad at him?

Chris planted himself right next to Rachel and signaled for Alfred, who was driving, to go ahead.

"Your coming too?" Rachel asked, "Aren't we already ready for the party?"

"At least one stylist has to go," Chris clarified, "Who else is going to make sure you walk into that party right."

"Great." Rachel groaned.

Chris clearly wasn't her favorite person in the world.

"It's not a long ride," Chris said, seemingly picking up on her mood, "Just a few minutes. We _should _arrive fashionably late. Now. Party etiquette. Because you guys are new to Gotham, it is proper to say 'nice to meet you' when you meet someone. But on the slim chance that you run into someone you know, you say 'nice to see you'. Always look a person in their eye, but do not stare uncomfortable. There are no hi-fives or hugs and loud laughter. You shake a person's hand and chuckle quietly. We do _not _guffaw."

This was going to be a long ride, Dick couldn't help but thinking. Party etiquette? Really, Chris? Rachel didn't look remotely interested. Victor was mocking Chris. Garfield seemed to be eating up all of this information. Nick was staring out of the window. Bruce was staring straight forward, void of emotion. And Tim was staring at him.

Dick raised an eyebrow at him, but Tim just looked away. Dick was about to try 'mind-talking' with Kory before Tim looked back at him. Furrowing his eyes, he watched as Tim diverted his eyes to Bruce and looked back.

Dick mouthed the word 'what'. Tim just scratched his chin with his thumb. Either he was saying 'not' in American sign language, or he was just being weird and had an itchy chin.

Internally rolling his eyes, Dick ran his pointer finger across his other hands palm. The typical 'what' sign. If Tim _was _using sign language, he must have had something kind of private to say. Dick was going to make it a habit of listening to Tim. The last time he didn't, he found out Bruce had adopted. Not going to happened again.

Tim signed 'not' again and added the letters 'o' and 'k' at the end. 'Not okay'. Tim flicked his eyes to Bruce again and the meaning finally dawned on him. Looking to Bruce, Dick realized that his face wasn't just void of emotion. It was completely blank.

Dick slid his finger across his other palm again. Making a fist, he stuck out his pinky and thumb finger and put them to his chin, adding 'wrong' to the end of 'what'.

Tim did what looked like a hopping three-eared rabbit. He then made his left hand flat and put his other thumb on his palm, turning his entire hand.

Rachel was looking at them odd now, but Dick had caught the 'weird. later.' signal. He did, actually, intend to find out what was going on with Bruce, and it seemed as if Tim had some type of clue. Dick imitated the 'later' sign back to Tim and turned his attention to Chris, trying to seem as if the conversation never happened.

"No. You use the fork on the right, Garfield." Chris was saying, "And no, the first bowl that comes out will be for washing you hands, so do not drink it."

Novice mistakes Dick and Nick had made several times as children. The washing bowl, the right fork, Dick used to be certain he'd never have to recall any of this stuff again. He thought he was done with all the fancy parties and fundraisers. But no, he was back here. Signing with his new adopted younger brother and riding to a-

"We're here!" Chris cried.

Scratch that. -getting out at a fancy party.

"Now don't anyone freak out." Chris said, clearly freaking out, "Just follow what Nick and Dick do, and you'll be fine."

Alfred pulled up to the front, where a large building had billions of lights shining up at the sky. It looked more like a museum opening, than a children's fundraiser. A red carpet led up the stairs and into the building. All along the long carpet was crowds and crowds of paparazzi and random civilians with cameras.

A man in a suite came over, opening the door.

"Garfield," Chris said, fixing his hair, "Get out first and help Rachel out. Rachel, step out as light and girly as you dare. Take Garfield's hand when he offers it and hold onto his arm when you walk in."

"No." Rachel said, prepared to get out on her own.

"Just. Do. It." Chris growled.

Rachel seemed to think about it, and when Garfield got out and offered his hand, she glared at Chris once, before taking it.

"Victor," Chris said, flattening Tim's collar, "Your next. Just stand out there until Bruce gets out. Follow him in. Nick then you."

Victor got out, looking shy on his part. When Nick got out, changing his bored expression to that of excitement and well-being, the paparazzi and cameras began going crazy.

"Okay Dickie, go on," Chris said, tying Tim's shoes again, "Kory your right behind him. Same thing with you two. Take the arm, lead. Dick I know you know what I'm talking about."

Dick nodded, prepared to get out and help Kory, but Chris grabbed his arm.

"Watch her," Chris said, as if Dick didn't already know, "I picked the dress for its elegance, not attention. I trust you'll watch our girl?"

Dick just nodded, not even bothering to worry about the 'our girl' thing. It wasn't worth it. He stepped out the limo and into what seemed like daytime. The cameras and lights were all he could see. But he smiled through it, helping out Kory who had a bright smile on too.

He focused on her face. On her eyes. Her smile. Anything, but that amazing dress she had on.

With her on his arm, he walked to the side, beside his brother, waiting for Bruce.

"He we go." he told Nick, his smile never wavering.

"My cheeks weren't prepared for this," Nick said, still smiling also, "I should of practiced for an hour or something. Its been too long."

"Time to help the cavalry," Dick said, motioning to Gar, Rachel, and Victor, all of which were frozen and looked fear-stricken, looking right into the cameras.

"You take Victor," Nick said, moving towards Garfield and Rachel.

Ironic now, Dick thought, that now, it looked as if Rachel's life depended on holding onto Garfield.

"Victor," Dick said, looking to Vic, "Smile."

"It is supposed to be a party of fun and children helping," Kory added.

"Whats gonna happen to all those pictures?" Victor asked, hardly hearing them.

Dick didn't want to scare him, and tell him they'd be all over the TV and news and internet, but lying would be just as bad. It was the price they had to pay for being friends with Nick and him. They'd probably get used to it before they went back to the tower.

"Who knows," he settled on, "But would you really want someone to see you looking all scared and depressed looking?"

"I ain't scared _or _depressed," Victor argued.

"Then smile." Kory and him said, simultaneously.

Victor cast them both a weird looking, before smiling brightly.

"Is it killing you?" Dick asked.

"No," Victor admitted, "This isn't that bad. It wont kill me,"

"Oh yes it will," Nick said, coming back over, "By tonight, you wont be able to stop and your cheeks'll ache so bad they'll swell."

Dick rolled his eyes, and looked to where Garfield was smiling brightly. The smile was a bit much for just standing there, but Dick wouldn't sway the effort. Even though Rachel didn't smile, she looked a lot more comfortable and natural. But she still didn't let go of Garfield, like he had expected her to. Dick was _so _going to tease her about that.

Tim basically jumped out the car, anxious and cheerful and hyper and energetic. Everything Dick and Nick were when they were younger. He went and stood by Dick, looking up at Kory. A perfect camera shot for someone. These were the first pictures of Tim and Dick and Nick all together. They _were,_ without a doubt, going to be the cover of some magazine.

Bruce stepped out and some idiot civilian began clapping. Someone whooped and someone hollered, but Bruce just smiled brightly and stuck a inviting hand up at the cameras.

Dick and Tim shared a look and Dick knew Tim wondered about the sudden change in personality, too. He had gone from emotionless block to lively Bruce in less than 5 seconds.

Like always, Bruce led the way, Nick and Dick closely at his heals. Kory held tight to Dick's arm, and even though she smile, there was a glint of fear in her eyes. Dick blamed it on all the people and small space, and tried to relax himself, hoping it helped her too. He kept his mind focused on smiling and getting into the building.

Garfield stepped on the back of Dick's shoe and Dick's phony smile became real for a moment. So much for Garfield loving the spotlight. Look who was anxious to get inside, now.

A cold breeze swept over Dick's face. Kory shivered a bit but Dick knew someone was just opening the font doors for them.

The light outside was nothing compared to the light inside. It was a typical rich people place. High ceilings with glass chandeliers. Marble floors and gold accents. Pillars and waiters and waitresses walking all around. This was going to be a long and boring night.

"Wow." Victor breathed, "This place is bigger than your kitchen."

"What do we do?" Garfield asked, and Dick already knew he'd be coming back to him in 10 minutes talking about he was bored and wanted to leave.

"You mingle," Nick answered, "You talk to people and walk around."

Victor and Garfield shared a sorry look.

"I'll show you the food table," Tim offered "I know the chef and he lets me have dessert in the kitchen."

With that, the three of them were gone.

"I need a bathroom," Rachel said, "That or a dark closet. Its too loud in here."

"There's a high balcony on the other side of the building," Nick told her, "No ones allowed over there without a code."

"Take me." she said simply, following Nick away.

Dick looked to Kory and they both smiled.

"And there were two," he told her.

They hadn't made it two feet before an older man with squared glasses pulled Dick aside. They hadn't even said hello to each other before they began talking animatedly.

"James," the man said, his arm extended to her, "Or better known as Commissioner."

"Kory." she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you."

The man, James, raised an eyebrow at Dick, who blushed a light shade of pink. Dick shook his head, as if he didn't want to go into the subject, and James began a new conversation. Something about Gotham crime rate.

Kory's dress vibrated, startling her. Micheal had said the top of her dress was where woman with no pockets kept their phones, but that vibrating would giver a heart attack.

She slipped her hand from Dick's arm and pulled out her phone, elegantly like Chris had shown her.

**B: Hey, girly. I see a tall redhead with a green dress on across the room. Anyone I know? ;D**

_**K: Perhaps.**_

Kory turned around, almost immediately spotting Barbara in her short black dress. She looked so great in her heels and jewelry. Kory really wanted to rush over to her, and gush about the stare-down she had gotten herself into with Richard, but she knew that would be both dangerous and improper. So she settled on daintily walking over.

"Where are you going?" Richard asked, grabbing her arm and stopping her from leaving.

She gestured wildly in her excitement, "Just to see a friend of mine. Shes right there. I'll be right back, I promise."

He seemed to calm down when she had said 'she'. And even though he didn't know who he was looking for, he seemed to scan the people, looking for who her friend might possibly be. When he saw no one looking over, he let his hand fall from her arm.  
>"I'll be right back," she insisted.<p>

"I'll watch you." he said, half-heartily going back his conversation with James.

Before he changed his mind, she eased away and made her way across the crowded floor. A few feet away, she cast a glance back. He seemed to only look long enough to make eye contact with her, before he turned back to James.

He'd still be watching a few feet away, but she didn't mind. She felt safer that way. In a room full of people she didn't know, that was reassuring.

"Kory," Barbara said, seemingly out of nowhere, "You look great. I mean, that dress is perfect on you."

"You too look nice," she implored, "Even better now that I can see the whole outfit."

"I know," she laughed, "Even I didn't recognize me with my makeup. Is that Richard, over there?"

She pointed her chin in the direction Kory had just come from.

"That is him," she said, nodding, "He is talking to a Mr. James."

"That old guy?" she asked.

"Yes, the one with the square glasses."

"And the bushy mustache?"

"Yes."

"That's my dad."

Barbara!" she exclaimed, but not loud enough to draw attention, "You can not say your father is old. He is your father."

"And he's also old," she laughed. "And besides, I'm just saying. But more importantly, Richard! He grabbed your arm before you came over, right?"

"Yes..."

"Seems rather possessive of you. What did he say to you?"

Thinking back, Kory relayed the short conversation she and him had shared before she had come over.

"Love if I ever heard it," Barbara said, sighing, "He so loves you. Not even like anymore. _Love._ I cant see his face from here, but he looks like he can _wear _a suite."

"I stared at him the entire way here," Kory admitted, blushing a bit, "I could not help it."

"Did he stare at you?"

"We had a stare-down," she gushed, "Chris was the only reason we're not still back at the manor still staring."

Barbara laughed, "He is so into you that's its not even funny! And how could he not be with you in that dress?"

"Is John here, yet?" Kory asked, the praise beginning to be to much for her.

"I saw his brother a few minutes ago. He's got to be here somewhere. Help me find him."

"Alright. What does he look like."

"He's tall. Hes got pitch black hair and really bright blue eyes. Hes kind of pale, too but totally gorgeous."

Kory looked around. The only really 'gorgeous' boy here like that was Richard. But her eyes passed over him. He had to be another boy. Btu she suddenly looked back at him, the need to unknown. But she realized why when she saw him staring at her. He cocked his head to the side and she knew he wanted her back over there with him.

"Let me introduce you to Richard first," she said, grabbing Barbara's arm, "He wants me back over there. Then we'll find John."

"Possessive," she sang, then, she growled.

Kory stared at her, wide-eyed.  
>"Oh don't look at me like that," she laughed, "As if you didn't notice the boys on your butt. Somebody's got to get them to back off, and since Richards over there, pretending he wasn't just staring at you, I had to pull out the growl."<p>

Kory looked up and realized that Richard now had his back to her, talking to the Commissioner like he had been doing that all along. She rolled her eyes and looked to Barbara, who looked back at her with the same look. Boys.

The Commissioner looked up, smiled a bright smile at her and Barbara, and walked away.

"Richard," Kory said, latching herself back onto his arm, "I'd like you to meet Barbara."

Richard turned around, rather swiftly, and stared at Barbara rather oddly.

"Barbara, this is Richard," she continued when it seemed as if neither one of them were going to say anything.

It was quiet for a moment, the noise and chatter of the party being the only things that Kory could hear.

"John?" Barbara asked, her voice cracking as she looked at Richard disbelievingly.

Understanding dawned on Kory. The weird looks. Odd staring. Gorgeousness. John. Richard. Richard John Grayson. They were the same people. Kory and Barbara _both _were into Dick. She suddenly didn't feel to good. Her and Barbara, were both _really _in love with the same guy. This, was definitely going to cause some turbulence in their friendship.

"Dick..." Barbara said, disposing the whole John fiasco, "I've called.

Apparently, that was all she could get out. Kory could practically feel a long wave of confusion coming off of Barbara. But then again, maybe it wasn't Barbara feeling like that. Maybe it was someone else in the room. Maybe it was her. She _was _feeling a bit bemused. Suddenly, she was feeling over whelmed. Confined. Constricted. She looked around herself, only seeing people and walls.

It was so tight. She felt as if she could hardly breathe.

"Richard," she gasped. It was all she could do to call for help.

"Could you give us a minute, Kory," Barbara all but spat out.

Kory looked to Richard, looking for backup. She didn't want to be alone at the moment. She wanted him to save her. Pick her up and carry her outside, where she could breathe and get some fresh air. But instead, he slipped his arm from her and she knew he wanted to be alone with Barbara too.

She could hardly believe it. Couldn't he sense her? Sense that she needed help?

It was too hot. She backed away from him, determined to find her way outside by herself. She just needed fresh air. Without Richard or Barbara with her, people closed in from all sides. She couldn't see two feet in front of her. All she could see was jacket fabrics and all she felt was material and skin pressed against her.

She crouched down, not caring how it made her look. The noise was too loud and the heat was killing her. She needed to get out. She needed to get out, now.

She searched around frantically, her breaths coming in short pants. She spotted a door. Gold trimmed and official looking. If the door led to nothing but a janitors closet, at least she could have a second of fresh air.

She made a beeline for the door. Two seconds from just taking off her shoes and running full fledged.

Reaching the door, she pulled on it as hard as she could. It budged a bit, but closed back. She just wasn't strong enough to pull it open all the way. A man she assumed was a waiter pulled it open for her and she barely murmured a 'thank you' before she rushed inside.

Unfortunately, she hadn't made it outside, but it wasn't a closet either. She had reached the woman's bathroom. As beautiful as it was, with its gold paint and silver trimmings, she paid no mind. Instead, she rushed to one of the sink and ran the cold water.

She dipped her hands in, wanted to soak her face, but knowing her makeup would be completely destroyed. She tried to focus on her breathing. On calming down and relaxing. The cold water helped a bit.

Looking up into the mirror, she realized that her bun had come undone and her hair had fallen. It barely had any curl in it and most of the pearls were missing. As much as she tried to stop it, her eyes watered up.

Not just because her hair was ruined, or because her mascara and eyeliner was dripping down her face from the sweat and a few tears, but because Barbara was out there, making up with Richard. Her new friend had just taken her love away in just a few seconds of seeing him.

How could she compete with that? Barbara had apparently known Richard for a while. They were childhood friends. She knew he had a cell phone long before Kory. He knew her dad, for x'hals sake. And that was just a few things. Barbara was confident and sweet and tall and beautiful and knew so much more than Kory could ever dream about on earth. It was no wonder Richard liked her. He had to be sick and tired of Kory's constant questions and tendencies and habits.

And now, as Kory stared into the mirror again, Barbara seemed beyond beautiful. Especially compared to Kory herself.

"Not much fun, huh?" came a voice.

Kory was so caught up in her own misery and lack of oxygen, she hadn't even noticed the woman beside her. She had dark brown skin that looked flawless, despite her looking well over her 30's, in the golden bathroom lights. She had on a long, tight, yellow dress and a matching flower that was stuck in her brown shoulder-length bob.

As Kory looked closer, she could see the woman was crying to, a napkin clenched tight in her hand.

"That attack, I mean." she clarified, "Horrible feeling, right."

"I was not attacked," Kory told her, surprised at how raw her throat sounded.

"A panic attack I meant. You know, too many people and too small a space. I use to have those when I was younger."

"Oh, right." Kory said, and although she wasn't sure what a panic attack was, it sounded about right with how she had felt a minute ago.

"What spurred it on?" the lady asked, leaning against the sink and facing Kory.

And as Kory thought about what had just caused the 'attack' she cried harder. Her makeup coming off and dropping down to her green dress and she didn't even care. She wanted to go home. Not to the manor. Not even to the tower. She wanted to go Tamaran, where things there made sense. Where boys weren't allowed to talk to her and her only concern was the people. Not her own sad life.

"Hey, hey." said the woman, as she gathered some napkins together, "Don't cry. I didn't want to make you cry."

The woman dipped the napkins in the water Kory's hands were still sitting in and wiped the useless makeup away from her face and off of her dress.

"Its not that bad." she tried.

"I thought he liked me," Kory confessed, dragging herself across the room and to a chair that sat in the corner.

"Oh," the lady said, sitting in a chair beside her, "One of those problems. Well, boys around your age are... unstable. Take my advise, don't trust them until they turn 30. And even then, watch them."

"I did all of this," Kory continued, motioning to her clothes, "For him. And not even once, did he say I looked nice."

The woman put her arm around Kory and Kory leaned into her. Kory didn't know this woman. Couldn't identify her in a lineup, but the woman cared. Or so it seemed. She thought Barbara and Richard had cared too, but they were out have a good time talking... without her.

"We all have boy troubles," the woman told her, soothingly, "I mean, look at me. I'm not in here crying because someone took my lip gloss. Men are the only thing capable of bringing this emotional side of woman out."

Kory nodded. "But I thought he was different."

"All men are different, sweety. All women too. It just means that every man breaks another girls heart differently. No two the same."

Kory took the napkin the woman offered and wiped the makeup from her face. "Are _you_ alright?"

The woman looked startled that Kory had even cared to ask why _she _had been crying. She smiled, "God, its been so long since someone asked me that. I don't know you that well, dear, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. Plain and simple, my husband is cheating on me."

Kory accidentally let a gasp out and the woman chuckled.

"I know," she continued, "And you'd think they'd grow out of the immature phase. He's 46 and still doesn't know what he wants. We've been married for 17 years and now, all of a sudden, he decides to run off with my adviser. He's an idiot." the woman slammed her makeup covered napkin on the floor and buried her face in her hands.

Kory sat there, stunned that her little problem had even caught the woman's attention. She liked Richard, sure, even loved him, but she wasn't _married _to him. He had no commitment to her, and definitely not for 17 years.

Kory could think to do nothing for the woman, but after a minute, she put her arm around the woman, like she had done her a moment ago. The woman looked up at her, smiled, and shook her head.

"Men are stupid." she said, and laughed. "C'mon. It wont do us any good to sit in this bathroom looking a freight. I can fix you makeup."

Kory followed the woman back to the mirror and let her reapply her mascara and eyeliner.

"Sorry, dear, I wont be able to help your hair. You look fine like that, though."

"Kory. My name is Kory."

"Well Kory, my name is Augusta. But everyone calls me Gussy."

"Pleasure to meet you." Kory said, careful to keep still.

"Your right?" Gussy asked when her makeup was done, "Think you can handle the world again?"

"The world,yes." Kory said confidently, "Richard, no."

"Grayson, you mean? You mean my little Richie, is the reason your in here?"

Kory barely had time to respond before Gussy grabbed her hand and led her out the bathroom. Seeing all the people made Kory's breath stop short again, but Gussy was moving so fast and frivolous that she couldn't even tell her. Kory wasn't even sure how Gussy knew where she was going, but a few seconds later, she grabbed a boys shoulder and spun him around. Kory was beyond surprised that she had found Richard like that.

She tried to compose herself. Richard couldn't know he had broken her. He couldn't know she had ran screaming, with her head between her tail, or however that saying went. She would never tell him she had had a 'panic attack'.

"Hey Gussy," he said, a bit surprised at seeing Kory with her.

"Hey, Richie," Gussy said, cheerfully while pinching his cheeks, "Wheres your brother?"

"Looking for Tim."

"Well," Gussy said, "I just wanted to make sure Kory was alright. She had a panic attack."

Dick's smile dropped and Kory turned her head away from him, embarrassed. So much for not letting him know.

"You know, with all the people and heat." Gussy continued, "Shes new to this and it must of overwhelmed her. I used to have them all the time when I just started out. Scared me half to death. Feeling so alone. That's how I met Joey, y'know. Soon after that, we got married. I could only imagine what would happen to such a innocent girl. What people would try and do to her."

Dick was beginning to look flushed. Torn between ripping Kory away from Gussy and just popping, right there on the spot.

"You knew she was claustrophobic, right?" Gussy asked, "This is her first time at one of these, right?"

"I-" he started, but didn't seemed to know how to finished.

"I mean, a pretty girl like this." Gussy continued, "The men were all over her, poor thing. Wasn't sure what to do. You let her go off by herself like that, Richie?"

"I didn't-" he started, but against lost his words.

"I'd hate to think where Jason and Nathan were about to take her."

"What?" Richard exclaimed. "_Who _was trying to take her _where_?"

"Oh forget about it," Gussy said, waving him off, "Zack and Michel probably had better intentions when they found her. Of course, _I _wouldn't want to leave any of _my _friends with them. They have an assault record, y'know."

It seemed as if Richard had finally made up his mind, because before Kory could even think about what was happening, Richard had her tucked under his arm dominantly at his side. He actually looked like he'd rather pop than listen to whatever Gussy was making up. Kory wasn't sure _why _Gussy was making this up. To make him jealous, maybe. Richard _didn't_ look too well.

"But I'd keep my distance from sweet innocent Kory, for now." Gussy, yet still, went on, "Words going around that George has his eye on her. He's got guys all over the place watching her, for him."

As if Gussy expected his reaction, she nodded with her head to where a tall guy with blonde hair was staring at Kory. He looked away as soon as Dick spotted him, though. Richards eyes widened and he looked ready to explode. Forget pop.

"Well, again." Gussy said, "I just wanted to make sure she made it that 2 feet from the bathroom to here. Men have been grabbing at her all night. You know what a little champagne can do to a man. Anyway, I have to go, but I'll see you both soon. Ciao."

And with a wink, she was gone.

"You do realize," he said, almost sounding angry, "That I don't remember _half _the names she just mentioned."

"Why should you?" she spat, inadvertently.

He looked at her, his eyes two or three shades darker than she was used to. Without another word, he had her arm in his hand and he was pushing people aside mercilessly and leading her away. She could tell he was seeing red, but she didn't care. As he carelessly pushed people around and pulled her as if she didn't have any feeling in her arm, she was seeing crimson.

He took her down a hallway, the noise suddenly dropping immensely. Then, she realized something. She didn't have to go with him. That need to please him every second of the day was discarded when he chose Barbara over her.

"Let me go." she grit out, trying to stop.

He didn't say a word, but he didn't slow down either. She tripped out of her shoes, but that only served to give her feet more friction and she tried to stop again. But he was strong. Much stronger than her, now. His steps didn't even falter.

"I said release me, Richard." she said, nearly throwing herself to the floor.

She knew though, he'd just drag her across it. She'd be ruining a perfect dress for nothing.

"Let go!" she screamed, and this time, she did throw herself down.

She didn't care how she looked or who saw or the respect she'd probably just lost from Richard. All she wanted to do was get away from him. Her plan had been to avoid him all night completely, but Gussy had ruined that first thought. And now, with him dragging her by the arm down a secluded hallway, alone seemed to be far from her plans.

She wouldn't stand for this. She didn't deserve it. She used his grip to spin her body around and kicked his feet as hard as she could. He actually did trip and the moment she felt his grip on her loosen, she snatched her hand and made a run for it. She blamed her capture on the dress and the grip-less floor. She'd made it about five feet before he snatched her back from behind. Holding her hands, he had her pressed against his chest with no way of escape.

A thought crossed her mind and she elbowed him in the stomach hard. He let one of her hands go and she spun around quickly, kneeing him as hard as she could muster in his thigh. He pushed her away, the action probably scaring the daylights out of him.

But she didn't run. No, not this time. Instead, she spun again, bringing her leg up for a final kick in his face. Not only did he teach her these moves just a few days before, but he deserved this. Did he really think that little of her feelings?

And then she was reminded of his skills as a martial artist. He caught her leg, pushing her and spinning her in reverse. The grabbed her waist and threw her over his shoulder, continuing down the hallway like the fight had never happened.

"Put me down!" she shrilled, making sure she did it directly in his ear.

She could feel he was fed up with her, and that was the only comforting thought she had as he turned off the hallway and went down one that was apparently unfinished. Planks of wood and paint supplied littered the floor.

He flipped her off his shoulder and grabbed both of her hands in one of his. She was about to attack him again, like he had shown her, but he forced her to duck down and pushed her under one of the sheets of plywood that was spread across the floor. She tugged on her hands, but he just spun her into him and lifted her over a two-by-four.

"You let me go," she threatened, "Or...or...I'll..." and then she screamed, because she didn't really know _what _she would do if he didn't. He wasn't now and she was still trying to figure something out.

He pushed her, hard, and she tripped on a paintbrush. She caught herself, but she realized her dress was split. Right up the left side of her leg, all the way up to her hip. It must have happened when she had tried to kick him. She knew the dress material would have never allowed something like that.

And the light of the situation: she had ruined a _perfectly _beautiful dress. Wonderful. How could her night of started out with romance and friends and happiness and lead to her attempting to get away from the very one she had dressed up for? This was just impossible. How was he even doing this? Carting her around like she weighed nothing. He was so mush stronger than she had thought.

He pulled her close to him so they could squeeze through a batch of latters, a scowl seemingly permanent on his face. She took the closeness as an advantage and head butted him hard. And while her head swam with colors and spots, he looked at her indifferently, as if he were head butted all the time and grew accustomed to it.

"Let me go," she slurred a bit. It was all that was on her mind.

She would not, _could _not be caught alone with him. True, they were alone now, but at least he was focused on keeping her with him instead of dead silence between them. She might crumble if he said he was sorry, and she was far from forgiveness. She just wanted to get away from him. Was that such a ridiculous request?

The latters were the end of the hallway, but he turned, yet again and long stretch of hallway lay in front of them. Now was the time. He couldn't have been leading her too far, right?

Where was he even taking her? They were far away from the party. No one was even back here. What could he possibly want? To talk? That was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want to talk or speak to him. She might say something stupid. Like, I love you, stupid. And then what would that leave her? A stupid, lonely, naïve alien princess, that's what. And _that _was not where she wanted to find herself.

So she abandoned everything that Robin had taught her. Everything about balance and form and defense and offense anything that involved fighting. And she attacked. She did, what Garfield called 'girly fought' him, complete with the 'girly slaps'. She closed her eyes, looking back and let her free hand loose, swinging blindly and slapping where she thought he was.

This wasn't what he was used to, nor was it something he had taught to defend against. That was what she hopped would be her advantage. She hit his shoulders, hit his arm, pulled his hair. Anything that would stop him from man-handling her. He stopped, probably about to throw her over his shoulder again when she froze. Her hand had finally connected with flesh, and she peeked over, seeing his head snapped to the side.

She almost felt bad, imagining his pale face with a red hand print on his cheek. His hair was disheveled now and his suite jacket was barely on. His tie was barely hanging on his neck and his shirt buttons were mostly undone. But she probably looked worse. Her hair, she could _feel, _was frizzy and sticking up oddly. Her dress had a large rip in it. Her makeup was probably horrible. Her shoes were gone.

They both looked like exactly what had happened. They had fought.

And still, she wanted to beat him to a pulp. Just punch him until he cried. She'd only maim him a little bit. And bite him until she broke tendons. Nothing too serious. Though probably highly impossible, the image made her feel better. Which was odd. Just an hour ago, the thought of him with a bruise or scratch was almost too much for her to bear.

She had pissed him off with that petty slap, she knew. He was mad at her for hitting him and mad at himself for not blocking it. It _was _only a girly slap.

He yanked her arm hard, and opened up the nearest door. She hadn't even had time to look and see what was in the room before he shoved her inside, and slammed the door behind himself.

The cold outside air blew and she knew immediately _he _had found outside. He'd pushed her on to a balcony, that overlooked Gotham's rich side of the city. Glancing down, she could see the streets were clean and buildings windows were shining in the moon's light. Shops and boutiques had tables outside where people and their dogs could eat. It was jump city in the summertime.

She was just beginning to look around herself when he grabbed her arm roughly and pushed her to the ground. The old Kory, or rather the one who lived an hour ago, would of stayed on the ground, her eyes tearing up as she begged Richard to forgive her for whatever she had done. But with renewed vigor, she now hopped back up, like she had never fallen, and shoved Richard back, as hard as she could. He didn't even come close to falling, didn't even need to take a step back. Which angered her even more. She was so weak. She threw him a punch, aiming right for his nose.

Of course, he caught her fist, and bent it back, forcing her back to the ground.

"Stop it." he spat out at her.

"No." she said, trying to pry her hand from his, "_You _do the stopping."

"What is wrong with you?" he yelled, pushing her fist away and sending her to her butt. "Suddenly you're in these clothes and your different."

She couldn't have heard him right. Did he say _she _was acting different? What about _him_? The Richard she knew would have noticed the moment her breathing was off and would have taken care of her_ before _she had a full-fledged panic attack. The Richard she knew would never blow her off to 'reconnect' with an old friend. The Richard she knew would never pull her away against her will. The Richard she knew would never hurt her. He would never push her. And he certainly wouldn't leave her sitting here on the cold ground out in the cold night yelling at her.

"I haven't changed," she spat back, "I am the same as I was an hour ago. And a day ago. And a week ago. And a year ago. _You _are the one who stopped caring the moment he found someone familiar!"

"I needed to talk to her!" he yelled.

"And I needed you!" she yelled back.

"You wouldn't have need me," he growled, stepping as close to her as physically possible, "If you'd have been better prepared."

"Was I supposed to mentally prepare myself for a 'panic attack'?" she asked disbelieving.

"No-" he ground out,

"Then I should have known that you and Barbara already were familiar with each other?"

"No, but-"

"Then what, Richard. I was I supposed to prepare for?"

"What may not have been the issue." he tiffed, "Maybe how is more like it."

"How what?" she asked, exasperated, "How was I supposed to prepare?"

"Well, for starters you could have picked an actual dress instead of _that_ scanty thing."

"Whats wrong with my dress?" she asked, offended.

She had put the dress on feeling good about herself. She had imagined his face when he saw her. Imagined him showing her off to all of his friends and bragging about the designer wear. It hadn't crossed her mind that he might not even of liked it.

"Well lets see," he held up his fingers, as if counting them off, "One, it's not a dress. It's a _thong._Two, its got a huge slit in the side-"

"That's your fault."

"Three the top is just a string. It covers _nothing. _And four-"

"I don't want to hear it," she said, turning away and heading back to the door.

She didn't need to stand there and be insulted. He didn't like her dress. He gave her a reason. There was no need to elaborate further. She got it already.

"I'm not done," he said, grabbing her arm and spinning her back around to him.

"Well I am. I am a person, not a dog or a doll you can insult whenever you please."

"I'm trying to talk to you," he said, spinning her back again when she tried to leave.

"No, you're trying to talk _down _to me. I always knew you could beat me physically, but apparently you win emotionally, too."

She turned, her exit within reaching distance.

"Stop trying to walk away from me," he said, spinning her back around. He grabbed her arm, right below her shoulders, keeping her still.

"No!" she screamed, suddenly, "I am done doing the putting up with you. I am leaving and you are letting me."

"And what if I don't?" he threatened.

_Threatened. _And he said _she _had changed. He had never threatened her before.

"Then I will scream and holler and shout and slap you more times. I'll send out mind bombs and mentally call Rachel for help. I'll-"

"Dammit" he cussed and she had to pause.

Did he just curse at her? She had never even heard him say anything like that.

"You say _I _am the one who changes?" she asked, still disbelieving. "You are the one who-"

Her rant was suddenly turned into a muffled scream of protest. He had, no, was, kissing her. No doubt about. In the middle of their fight and biggest argument ever, he decided to kiss her. She couldn't believe him. And yet, as he forced his mouth onto hers, anger still evident in his bruising lips, she tried to think rationally.

She couldn't run, his hands were still holding tight to her arms. _Heavenly. _No, she wasn't thinking about his lips. She couldn't call for help, her mouth was...otherwise busy. _Bruising, but gentle. _No, not thinking about that. Could she try to contact Rachel? _More._

She was so peeved off at him that it didn't even make sense. He tilted his head, his attempt to either get her to respond or deepen the kiss didn't even matter. Supposedly, he belonged to someone else, right? She didn't want him if he wasn't hers. And now, of all times? They were fighting. She was mad at him. He insulted her and bruised her arms and pulled her down x'hal knew haw many hallways.

It made turning away from him that much easier. All she could turn was her head, but he stopped immediately, totally dejected. She was confused. She was so angry with him, and really, she wanted him to be angry with her.

"What," she said, intentions purely set on setting him off again, "would your mother say if she heard you speaking like that?"

She felt a blank wall from him. No emotion. No nothing. Maybe, he had realized she didn't really know _what_ she was talking about. Maybe he knew she only wanted to pick a fight with him, because she was angry. She had thought that saying anything about his mother, without directly insulting her, would spur on a fight. Maybe she was wrong.

And then she felt it. A burning sensation in her face. He had slapped her. He had slapped her so hard, she had spun, 90 degrees before falling to the ground. The strong, powerful, vengeful Kory was gone like the breath in her body. She disappeared, like Kory's lost shoes. Gone in an instant. Leaving the broken girl, who sat, tears freely falling from her face, on the cold hard ground.

She placed a cool hand on her blazing cheek, her hair providing the much-needed cover for her face and entire upper body. She hoped none of her slaps had felt like that. But she doubted it. He was so much stronger than she was.

She held in a hiccup, having been crying so hard she could hardly breathe. He had never hit her. Never. Not even once. Not for any reason at all. Yet all in this one night, he had chosen another girl, dragged her down a maze of hallways, cursed at her, kissed her, and slapped her. And now, all of it was coming out in her eyes. She had cried already that night and she wouldn't risk it again if she could help it.

She needed to get out of this building and get as far away from him as possible.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

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><p>AN: *runs and hides behind box* Do you all hate me? That was rough, huh. Richard and Kory. Whoa. So out of the blue. I hope you guys got where both Kory and Richard was coming from. I'll more from his side next chappy. I bet none of you saw that one coming. I also bet non of you noticed Nicks depression. Nope. You were all 'aaawwww' at Dick and Tim's signed conversation. No fluff, I said so, but next chappy Dick and Kory get fluff and Dick and Nick have a moment _and _Dick and Tim get some time too. So don't worry, I hear you guys.

**_Read an__d__ Review_**

_ScarletDrake


	16. I Can Make You Forgive Me

As they say in Romanian, Buna ziua... or... HELLO!

Reviews and notifications really helped me along so... thank you. So you guys can give your thanks to ROBSTARFAN32 and jessiejess the guest (tee-hee_ that rhymes) and Robstarforever (who reviews all the time {THANK YOU}) and you get the picture. All you reviewers know who you are (because 'I ROCK' just happens to be written on their foreheads.)

So, this chapter... it's a look into Richards eyes. His view on the last chapter and such. I wont give too much away, but for now on, the plot is really going to be unfolding.

Stay tuned!

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

She was shaking. Even _he _could see that. She may have been cold, but she may of just been shaking from her crying. Her tears falling one by one onto the ground. Even in his frozen state, reality went crashing down on him. The gravity of what he had just done pressed down on his chest, darkening his situation.

Maybe she was right. Maybe _he _had been the one who was acting differently. He knew his older self... or the him an hour ago, would never hit her. Never hit an innocent woman, period. His subconscious was already going on defense mode and he knew that if he denied any of this ever happened, a huge rift would tear in there relationship or friendship or whatever they were at the moment.

But at the moment, defense blurred with denial. This wasn't his fault. It wasn't something _he_ did, it was just something that "happened". Like the wind blowing or the waves crashing. He hadn't kissed her. Hadn't hit her. He was just dreaming. Watching himself act a fool, like he did in most of his dreams. He was the speculator. The overseer of the dream, and if he thought hard enough, he could wake up.

But she hiccuped and reality hit him hard. He flexed his fingers, pins and needles burning in the hand he had hit her with. He lost his breath for a moment, the proof of how hard he had hit her in his own flesh.

He looked at his hands in disgust, his eyes starting to burn and his bottom lip quivering, like it did when he bawled as child. He tried to tell himself that the situation wasn't as bad as he was making it seem. It didn't require any tears. He hadn't cried in years and he was beginning to wonder if he even remembered how.

Without thinking, he went over and sat beside her. She wouldn't want to talk to him, nor would she turn to look at him. But that was okay, because _he _didn't want to talk nor look at himself either. He was disgust in human form.

It truly hurt him to look at her. She hadn't moved to try to pick herself up or get away. She just sat there, on the cold hard ground, her shoulders shaking and her hair covering her face as she cried. And he just sat there. A stupid, frozen, idiot with a temper.

He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her, not quite sure if it meant anything when she didn't brush it off herself. Maybe she was too upset to move. Maybe, she was just _really _cold. What was wrong with him? Couldn't he tell she was cold. Wouldn't _he _be cold too. Why did he have to wait until now to actually _think, _really think, about how she was feeling. She hadn't been on earth long, and suddenly he was dragging her around the world and forcing her to suddenly change herself to fit _his _environment. No wonder she snapped. _He _had been to one to lose his temper.

He wasn't even sure if he could he say he had lost his temper. He had down right exploded in rage. He had been so excited to see Gussy. She was like a surrogate grandmother to him. But Gussy had told him, in great detail and length, all of what had happened in the short span of 20 minutes that he had talked to Barbara. And putting it mildly, it had riled him up.

All those boys on her. Thinking of her. Looking at her. Watching her. It had burned him up. He realized she was... attractive, but at least he had the decency to be discreet. The first moment he had seen that dress on her, he had known he had had a problem. She looked beautiful in it, no doubt about that, every curve and bump, accentuated by that deep green, the same shade of her eyes. He felt jealously scorching through his veins before he had even left the manor. It just wasn't fair that he had to share the sight of her. That other people got to see what he saw. Even Victor and Garfield was too much for him. He promised himself, back at the manor, standing right at the top of those stairs, that she wouldn't leave his side once. There would be no 'misunderstandings'.

She was _not _up for grabs.

The night had gone sour at some point, probably when Barbara showed up. He should have realized she might be there earlier. Commissioner Gordon was there. Why not his daughter?

He hadn't meant to brush Kory off. He didn't even really wanted her to leave his side, but Barbara's voice had been laced with venom and if he didn't talk to her alone, she'd of attacked Kory at some other time.

He knew. Deep down, he knew. She hadn't looked well. She was pale and starting to sweat. Her breathing was off and her eyes had been wide and she had looked at him with a pleading face. He had thought she just wanted to stick around. That she was just curious. He expected her to come back in a few minutes, pouting like she always did when she didn't get her way. He'd of smiled and led her to the buffet table to try the shrimp and apple cider. It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

Gussy wasn't supposed to find him before he had found her, because he _was _looking for her. He was supposed to find her talking to one of the orchestra members and asking about his instrument. She was supposed to have been playing hide and seek with Tim, or putting mustard on her shrimp and crab Rangoon. She wasn't supposed to of come to him, hair affray and face flushed. He wasn't supposed to hear that several guys had tried to steal her, right from under his nose.

He had made a stupid comment to himself, barely talking above a whisper, but she had heard him. Picked up his voice in the loud noise of the room. And she had bit back at him with malice. She was mad at him. Mad he had let her down. Had sent her away when she needed him. In fact, he was mad at himself, for the above reasons as well. Why had he pushed his instincts aside and ignored her? But all he could do was apologize to her. Apologize for not seeing how much she needed him sooner.

He had caught the blonde guy staring at her again and decided that that wasn't the place to talk. He had dragged her to the hallway, his intentions set on one of the balconies Nick and him used to escape too. It was high and beautiful. He had hoped the view would soften her up. Make her more open to his apology.

But she had fought him. It had surprised the crap out of him, her voice, demanding that he let her go. But where would she go to? Mostly everyone she knew was doing something else, it was him or no one. Who would see? Talk to?

But his mind had been set on his apology. He had ignored her and dragged down the hall, anyway. His second mistake of the night. Her full-fledged attacks suddenly weren't important. All that mattered was getting her to that balcony and talking to her. He just wanted to talk. Was that such a ridiculous request?

He took the shortcut down the hallway that was probably never going to be finished. It had been under construction since he was ten. And when she started randomly slapping him and pulling his hair, that anger that had previously been directed at himself, swiftly shifted to her. That inferior fighting style had ground his nerves. He couldn't stand it. She had such a unique way of fighting that the little slaps hurt _his _ego more than they hurt his skin.

He had stopped, ready to snatch her hand and stop that lowly, mindless, hitting when she had slapped him in the face. It didn't hurt, didn't really even sting, but his head snapped from the motion, nonetheless.

He knew she really hadn't meant to hit him,even if it didn't hurt him. He knew when he heard her gasp, that she'd of taken that hit back if she had the choice. But she'd never swung at him before, much less slapped him. It was so strange. It was like she was a completely different person. Fighting him and screaming at him. That girly fighting style and the clothes. She wasn't his Kory anymore. Wasn't even his Starfire.

He had mindlessly shoved her onto the closest balcony, his intentions unclear for a moment. He had just needed to breathe for a moment. Get some fresh air and relax himself. But of course, his intentions never really worked out the way he wanted them too. Maybe it was just his stress finding a way out somehow. Maybe he just liked her a lot more than he thought he did. But in the end, they were screaming and fighting each other like mindless imbeciles. As if their friendship and previous things they had gone through together meant nothing.

But to be honest, if almost felt good. To feel so pent-up and stressed, and then to release suddenly. It had been a while since he had been at one of those parties and he hadn't been too ecstatic about the froufrou dresses and tight spaces either. No wonder she had a panic attack. But she gave him his escape. Something in the midst of the chaos and abnormality that he felt familiar with; fighting. And she had fought hard.

He honestly believed she had given him her best... or the best she could do in her shoes and dress. Maybe, if she had been thinking clearly, she might've actually taken him down or even out. But anger always obscured his thinking. His worst decisions normally happened when he was mad. And they were one in the same now, right? Why wouldn't anger befog her thinking and fighting as well.

And somehow, all this had led to... him kissing her?

Again, his worst decisions normally happened when he was mad. Point and case, right there.

Thinking about it, he really didn't understand _why _he did it. Maybe to lighten the mood? Change the subjects as quickly as possible? Maybe, he had just suddenly realized that the fighting was useless, and he stopped thinking with his head for a moment.

She had been so angry with him, it made him angry. Logic told him they were probably just feeding off each others energies and emotions, but he wasn't so sure. Maybe _she _had been feeding off _his _emotions and energy. She wasn't really one to get upset like that, let alone break out into a full-fledged fight.

_Your right._

Richard looked up, not at all surprised to see Rachel on the balcony, balancing barefoot on the edge of the railing.

_Its your fault. _She continued.

He relaxed himself and opened his mind to her. Maybe she could help him sort this out.

_**So what do I do? **_He asked.

She did what he could only describe as a mental scoff.

_I don't know. You did it, not me._

_**I'm guessing you've been here the whole time?**_

_Most of it. But that doesn't mean I want to play counselor or peacemaker. Besides, I only caught bits and pieces. A lot of what you two said was mental. You probably only said a handful of things aloud._

_**But you could have broken us up, **_he said, **_you could see this clearly wasn't going well. It didn't have to get that bad._**

_At least you've learned. Now you know what happens to her when you lose you temper over trivial things. You never believed me when I told you to watch your emotions. Physical things aren't the only things that get damaged._

She motioned with her head to Kory, who was seemingly a lot calmer. To think, this was all his fault. Well of course it was. It was always his fault. Besides, she had acted so out of character. She had fought him. _Hit _him. Since when did Kory or even Starfire attack _him. _She had been feeding off of his own self-hatred and now, look what he had done. Richard was sure she wasn't aware of Rachel's presence, and he could feel Rachel blocking Kory out with her mind as well. But Kory looked like she knew something was up.

_**So what now. I've learned my lesson. **_

_I wasn't testing you, Dick. This happened on your own accord. I just came because I felt the emotional strain and I knew you two would bring the whole building down if I didn't try to restrain your powers. You didn't actually think you were good enough to show emotion and not kill anyone, did you?_

_**We killed someone?!**_

_Thanks to me, you didn't. I know you've meditated, but meditation wont restrain your powers. It only helps clear you mind so that **you **can restrain your own powers._

_**But that doesn't help me now.**_

_I told you. I'm not doing anything for you. You hurt her, you fix her. This is your fault. So don't ask me to erase this from her memory or make her forgive you or make her think this is her fault. Because it isn't._

_**You can do that?**_

Rachel sighed. She knew she shouldn't have given him examples. No-no on her part. Maybe she was just feeling good. Nick had led her to a great meditation spot. Completely void of light and sound. And boy did she need it after seeing Dick all dressed up. He looked amazing.

But Rachel was the bigger person. She was leaving Dick alone. Even if it required her to meditate three times more than she used to. Her meditation was helping her keep a clear head. Kory was her friend. Dick was her friend. And this meditation stuff must have worked because at the moment, she was feeling a bit of malevolence towards Dick and sympathy towards Kory. She would get through this. No more emotional outbursts from her.

_Don't even think to ask, _she told him, _this is, as if I haven't stressed this enough, **your **fault._

_**But Rachel-**_

_No._

_**What if I did it?**_

_What do you mean?_

_**I messed up, okay**_

Rachel knew better than to test him. He had found his way out of this and he _was _going to go through with it. He just had to fake Rachel out and get her to 'believe' she _needed _to do it. For Kory if not for him.

_**I just want to fix things. And if you wont help me, I'll have to try myself.**_

Bluff of the century. He officially claimed that as his lie of the day. He knew, and he hoped Rachel didn't, know he would never test anything out on Kory. With all the potential dangers and problems he could cause, he wasn't using these powers unless he needed too. He just needed Rachel to believe the opposite.

_Than fix them like a normal person. Apologize. Give her flowers or chocolates or something cliché like that. Just don't use any powers._

_**I'm doing this with or without you, Rachel. I'm going to erase her memory from the time she saw Barbara, to now.**_

_And then what? _

She asked that, her voice _seemingly _calm. But Richard had always been good at reading people. And now that he could sense her. He knew, he had her.

_Pretend a waiter accidentally hit her with his tray and knocked her out?_

_**Works for me.**_

_Exactly. This only works for you. What about her? How would she feel?_

_**Because we're connected, I'm guessing she'd feel the same way I do. Think about it. She'd probably want me to do this.**_

_Connections don't work that way. Your influence only effects her mentally and physically. You can't change her original opinion of something. She'd only reciprocate the feelings you'd feel about something else._

_**So in other words, she wont mind, right?**_

_I'm going._

She silently jumped to the balcony, her eyebrow twitching. He was teasing her. Purposefully getting on her nerves. He needed to speed this up a bit and her supposed exit was exactly what he needed.

_**Fine. But I'm trying this.**_

She stopped herself, turning around. A vein was just visible and she looked ready to kill.

_Your not._

_**I am.**_

_Your not._

_**I. Am. With or without you.**_

_Do you know what you could do to her? You could kill her, Dick. And not just her, but every female in Gotham. Every girl with red hair or green eyes. You could be the reason the Tameranian population hits zero. Is avoiding an apology worth that?_

If he said yes, she'd know he were bluffing. Honestly, he hadn't realized Rachel's powers were that fragile and... destructive.

_**I have to do something. You know how she is. This will break her. She'll never be the same.**_

_And the fault is yours. You should have thought twice. Trying to make her forget wont fix things. It'll just delay the inevitable. _

This was getting him nowhere. She wasn't acting like he thought she would. She was supposed to have caved by now. Offered to do this for him so that Kory wouldn't get hurt. Pulling a last card, he lit his hand white and placed it on a still oblivious Kory's shoulder. Kory didn't move, and that was good for Richard. He cast Rachel back a look that hopefully conveyed, 'Here I go'. If she called his bluff now, he'd be done for.

_Your not serious, right? You'd risk killing an entire race of aliens?_

_**Shes worth it, Rachel. I can't let her live with this over her.**_

_But... but you can't. You don't know how._

_**That's why I wanted your help, but I guess I'm on my own here.**_

_Fine._

It was like magic words. Or... word. But it was all he needed to change his entire attitude. Although he made sure his demeanor didn't change. He couldn't let Rachel see him sigh a breath of relief nor could she see him relax now that he knew his problems would be solved.

Yes, he was taking a short cut. The easy way out. When he had trained with the True Master all those months ago, she had stressed greatly about the easy way and the right way to do things. Right now, he just wanted to take the easy way. Everyone was allowed to sometimes, right?

_Move._

She didn't even give him a chance to. Rachel gripped his hair in annoyance and shoved him to the side, before taking her seat next Kory. Rachel's eyes flashed white and Kory suddenly went limp.

"Well," she said aloud, "You just going to leave her laying on the ground or are you gonna hold her while I do this?"

She didn't need to ask twice, not even once. But her nerves were frayed and he could understand why patience wasn't on her mind. He quickly went over, grabbing Kory from the hard ground. Looking at her face, he realized it was dry. She hadn't been crying for a minute.

"She was confused," Rachel clarified, comically trying to cross her legs in her dress, "Your connected, remember? She could sense something was off when we were talking, but she wasn't sure what."

"So what do I need to do?" he asked, crossing his legs with Kory in his lap.

"Nothing," Rachel said, glaring at his crossed legs as she had to settle on just sitting on her knees, "I'll take care of this. Plus, I don't want you to know how to do this. You have to learn that this is no way to deal with problems. I'm only going to do this for you this one time."

He said nothing, but sat still. If Rachel wanted to take over this operation completely, he wouldn't stop her. Wouldn't even interrupt her.

"This wont feel very nice." Rachel said, her eyes glowing a pale blue.

Richard wasn't really sure what she was talking about. She was doing something to Kory, not him... but, they connected. He was really questioning whether the pros outweighed the cons in this connected thing.

He was starting to wonder if he would ever get things right.

"Dick."

Richard kept his eyes closed. He didn't _want _to open them. He was afraid he'd open his eyes to blinding lightness and then his eyes would burn. No, he was better off just sitting there... or laying there... or standing there. Honestly, he wasn't sure where he was or what he was doing. He just knew he wanted to keep his eyes closed.

"Dick get up. I know your up, now come on. Its been a half an hour and Tim is looking for you."

"Don't wanna," he murmured.

Rachel would understand.

Suddenly he yelped, forced to sit up by the tugging of his hair. His eyes flipped open and it was only then that Rachel dropped the handful of his hair that she had pulled on.

"Fine. I'm awake." he growled.

"You've been out for a half an hour," she said, sitting back beside him, "I expected you to go out like she did, because your connected, but I had no way of knowing for sure how long. I wondered if I did something wrong."

Wrong? And then he remembered.

"And Kory?"

Rachel pointed beside him, where she lay, seemingly asleep.

"It'll take her longer to get up," Rachel clarified, "She'll probably be up by morning though. I went back as far as the beginning of the party, since I don't know who Barbara is."

"And you just sat there the whole half hour?"

"Nope."

Rachel held up the platter of shrimp. "I went back to the party. Tim is looking for you. I sense an urgency within him. You should go, now."

"But what about-"

"I'll take care of her." Rachel said, standing up, "I'll take her to the limo and sit with her. I'm about tired of this party anyway."

Richard nodded, waiting until Rachel used her powers to move Kory and herself over the side of the balcony before he left.

So... he was in the clear? Kory really wouldn't remember the fighting or the argument? It was amazing how something so big and life changing for him could be taken away in a half hour. And yet still, he couldn't shake a guilty feeling. He had taken away part of her mind. Her memories. Something really amazing could have happened to her since the party and now she'd never remember it. She might have met someone super important, and she'd never even know. He just needed to keep this to himself. She didn't need to know about any of this.

He passed Kory's shoes on his way out the hallway. He thought about grabbing them for her, but went against that idea when he thought about how he'd look walking into the party with her shoes in his hand.

"Dick."

Dick turned around, sure he'd heard Tim's voice. Sure enough, Tim was a few feet behind him. Dick hadn't even realized he had passed anyone.

"Hey, whats up?"

"I need to talk to you."

And Dick realized that this wasn't going to be a fun party. He should have known. After what happened with Kory, how could he expect to waltz out into the party and peacefully stuff his face with crab and pretend nothing had happened?

He dramatically motioned for Tim to follow him. Yet another balcony awaited him. The only question was which one. Their were tons and tons in that hallway alone. Randomly, he picked one, and let Tim scurry in first.

He waited for Tim to speak first, but instead, Tim took off his shoe and started looking inside of it. All Dick could do was look at him boredly and sigh. He was starting to wish he had brought his jacket when Tim handed him a piece of paper. Dick took the paper but still looked at Tim as he now took off his jacket and started searching in the pockets.

But when it seemed as if Tim would take a while this time, he started unfolding the paper. He deducted that the paper was too thick, and it must have been a photograph. An old photograph, because no one really used those camera print out ones anymore. He unfolded it in his hands carefully. It looked worn and the four creases that lined it were clearly permanent, as if Tim had kept it folded up in a book or something.

But unfolding it, even on the darkened balcony, he could clearly see his and Nick's smiling, chubby faces. Cad in their circus clothes, Haley's Circus was big in the background. His parents, clothed in their uniforms too, was right behind him. They were all smiling. All happy.

He didn't much remember taking the picture, but it had to be the night of the accident. A haggard, yellow date was typed at the bottom and Dick almost fell back when he realized it was the exact date the Accident had happened. He noticed, for the first time, that an even smaller kid had been sitting on his leg, wide-eyed and ecstatic looking.

"That's me," Tim said, snapping Dick out of his trance and scaring him. He pointed at the little boy in the picture, "It was my first time at the circus."

Both boys were quiet for a moment. What a lousy first show. But then again, what a lousy last show.

"But that's not what I wanted you for," Tim said, shaking his head, "I wanted to know if..." he paused for a minute, as if he were afraid to continue.

"If?" Dick pushed.

"-If, if they were the same two people in the car earlier. Your parents in the picture, I mean."

Dick numbly nodded his head, unsure at where Tim was going with that. Before Dick could even ponder anything else, Tim snatched the picture back and studied it. Dick wanted to scream to be careful with the photo, but he managed to keep his cool. Rachel wasn't there to bail him out of any crap and besides, the photo didn't even belong to him. It was Tim's picture.

"They haven't changed at all," he said, disbelieving, "Do you... do you think their really back?"

Dick didn't want to answer Tim. Dick _really _didn't want to answer him. He knew the odds were impossible. He knew the coincidences were far too many, but a small part of him had hoped that maybe his parents _were _really back. They acted like them. Sounded like them. Smelled like them. Why couldn't he just play along, too? But in his line of work, their was no time for pretending. So he just shook his head at Tim, not quite trusting his voice.

"They stopped by before you," Tim said, handing the photo back to Dick, to his surprise, "Before you all got to the manor, they stopped by. I introduced myself."

"No," Dick said with a shake of his head, "We all met at the train station."

"No, I met you and Kory at the station. I met them earlier. They never said their last name, so I didn't know you were related, but I recognized their faces from the picture. They had come to see Bruce. I figured they were associates of his or something so I didn't really care and left them."

No. Tim had to be wrong. He remember, specifically how Tim had introduced himself to _everyone _in the car. His parents included. How could Tim of possibly of known him before that?

"John... your dad," Tim continued, "He stole my cell phone. Or so I think. I'm pretty sure he traced a call. A call to _your _phone."

No. Tim was wrong again. Even if this did explain how his parents knew he was in Bludhaven, it just still didn't make sense. Or worse yet, it made too much sense.

"Do you know what they talked to Bruce about?" he asked.

"No. Like I said, I wasn't interested."

"But you agree that Bruce has totally lost his mind, right?"

"I more than agree with it," Tim said, pulling something out his pocket, "I have proof."

Tim had what looked like a GPS, but he pressed a button and a screen popped up. He quickly typed in the password it needed, obviously trying to be discreet. But Dick's trained eyes caught it, reading 'MIT'. His name backwards. How original.

He refocused his attention, the screen shifting rapidly. Files and folders popped up, Tim pressing and opening them just as fast as they appeared. Dick may have been impressed, had he not been feeling so inpatient.

"Okay," Tim said, "So against all better judgment, I've put cameras around the house. At first, I did it because I always get lost in that house and the cameras help me orientate myself, but when Bruce started acting weird, I started watching him more."

Tim opened a file, a feedback view of Bruce's room coming up.

"This is from last night," Tim clarified, "He's been doing this every night for about 2 weeks."

The camera showed a clear view of Bruce's large bed and a setting sun through his window. It was a good camera placement. The room was empty for a few seconds, before a PJ clad Bruce walked into the room. He stood at the foot of his bed, completely still. He seemed to be staring at the headboard. Not really the most interesting thing in the room.

"Just wait." Tim said, seemingly already bored with the screen.

A few more minutes went by before the camera suddenly shifted to a green color, the night vision kicking in, in the lack of sunlight. Bruce just continued to stand there. Unmoving and breathing shallow. Nothing too interesting. Tim pressed a button and the tape fast forwarded. Nothing changed in the video. Bruce's breathing seemed to speed up rapidly and the green of the scene slowly changed back to color as the sun rose. In a swift move, Bruce suddenly came to life, ripping the sheets off the bed halfway, making it look disturbed. Like he had actually been asleep in it, thus far, ending the tape.

"Tell me that's not weird," Tim said, putting the screen back in his pocket, "Every night, he just stands there and stares. I've knocked on the door a few times, just to see what he would do, and he totally freaks out. Like ninja-out-of-control, freaks out."

Dick didn't answer. He just rubbed his chin. Yes, standing there like a statue when he's supposed to be in bed sleeping is pretty weird. And even weirder, wanting everyone else to think he really _was _asleep. What would instigate that? And why wasn't he actually sleeping? And, better yet, why was he even there. In little numbers in the corner of the GPS, it had displayed the time. A lot of that time, Bruce would normally be out as Batman, on patrol.

"2 weeks, you said?" he asked, dimly.

"Yup. Same routine everyday. But that's not even the whole reason I called you here now," Tim continued, "Y'know, and not waiting until we got home later."

Dick raised an eyebrow at Tim, signaling him to continue. Tim, however, pointed at the picture Dick still gripped tightly.

"Their here," he told Dick, "I saw your parents, here. At the party. They weren't dressed up or anything, but they came in the front doors, saw Bruce, and the three of them disappeared in one of the back rooms."

"Show me."

It wasn't a statement. It was an order. Dick was just about fed up with being in the dark about things. He knew, from the start that his parents weren't, couldn't, be alive. If he had to ditch a lame party to get to the bottom of things and figure out just where they really came from, than so be it. You wouldn't hear him complain.

Following orders silently, Tim led Dick off the balcony and back towards the party. Tim's determined face shifted instantly to happy, over excited, kid. He was 13. He was supposed to act immature. Always happy to be alive. Randomly blabbering about video games and comic books. It was what was expected of him and as Bruce Wayne's stepson, it was his job.

He smiled, escaping the party and entering the bustling kitchen with only having to manage a few hello's. He glanced back, glad Dick had made it there too without having been snatched up and plunged into a boring, unwanted conversation. Parties like this, they were dangerous. A boring conversation was around every corner. Boring, bland people always wanted to meet you and talk about boring, bland things. You had to watch your back. Any and everyone was sharks. Waiting. Watching. Planning, their sights set on making more money. And if you weren't careful, you'd be talking about a Solenoid-operated Diaphragm Dreadnought Expansion Reamer all night.

"I stopped following them here," Tim said, as he and Dick came to the end of the kitchen. "They went through this door."

It was only one door, Dick observed. Plain in appearance, but what was in it was more important. A military base could have been set up. A radioactive bomb could have already been counting down. An army of robots could have been poised to attack. But he was making no progress guessing and imagining. Without even thinking about it, he turned the handle and opened the door.

A dark, black, hallway was beyond that. The light from the kitchen gave some light, but the hallway was so long that it didn't even matter. The darkness extended past the lights rays. Dick stole a glance at Tim. He was looking back at him, seemingly waiting. Waiting for Dick to go. He really expected to go with him.

"Alright, Tim," he said, "I'll handle this from here."

Tim looked insulted, "I'm coming with you,"

"No, you're not." Dick argued. Tim's help was appreciated. But this was where Dick drew the line. "Go back to the party now."

"But-"

"Go."

Dick _was _careful not to sound mean. He had been hard enough on the kid lately, but this wasn't a topic he was going to debate on. Tim was _not _coming. What kind of... brother... would he be if he didn't protect him? Yes, it was weird thinking about Tim as his brother, but he pushed the thought aside, watching a disappointed Tim head back down the kitchen and to the party.

He waited a few minutes, making sure Tim didn't come back and try to follow. When he was sure Tim was gone, he entered the hallway, closing the door behind himself. He was submerged immediately into pitch blackness. He resisted lighting his hand, he didn't want to give himself away, but he peeled his ears and took off his shoes. Known fact: dress shoes are noisy; no matter what kind they are. Any trained person could pick the sound up easily. He tucked his socks into the shoes and left them by the door. If for any reason he needed to run, socks would only slow him down or make him slip on the wood floor. His feet had enough friction that running on the floor wouldn't be a problem.

He quietly walked down the hall, his ears picking up miniscule sounds and tiny voices. The further he got from the door, the more certain he was that the voices he was hearing wasn't any waiters or waitresses on the other side of the door. After a few more feet, he ran straight into another door, not even seeing it in the dark. He hoped no one heard the bang and quietly cracked the door in front of him.

Light filled his eyes and he blinked them rapidly. Once they cleared, he could see he had opened a door to a storage unit and judging by the temperature, it seemed to actually be a cold room, made to keep meats and other foods cold, without needing to use electricity. And that would explain why it was attached to the kitchen. He was high above the actual room, on a lattered platform. The thin railings that stood on the side of the thin walkway led to a high set of stairs. The whole thing reminded him of a skinny fire escape.

"It's in motion," he heard a voice say, recognizing it as Bruce's. "Here's the money."

_Money?_ From his view from the cracked door, he couldn't see much. As fast as he could, he crouched down and pushed open the door, sliding onto the raised platform. He stuck his hand in the crack of the door, keeping it from slamming shut. Though his fingers and hand stung from the closing door, at least he was undiscovered.

He let the door close quietly and crawled further out onto the latter floor, the skin of his feet digging painfully into the holey level. A tall support beam was sticking up from the floor to the ceiling, just a few steps down from where he was. He mentally chose that as his hiding place. If he stood behind that, no one could see him.

He army crawled, careful to be quiet, and tiptoed down the few steps and pressed his back against the support beam.

"Thank you... uh, Mr..."

"Grayson." came a voice he recognized as his 'fathers'.

But it was the other voice that concerned him. He took his chances, peaking around the beam to see. His eyes furrowed in confusion at who he saw. Dressed as sharply as they come, he was astonished to see Lex Luther.

His 'mother' handed Luther a metallic suitcase, and Dick could only assume it had the money they were talking about.

"And your connections are sound?" Bruce asked, his voice all business. "We can't have any... misunderstandings."

"Why Mr. Wayne," Luther said, fake astonishment in his voice, "I assure you, I am a man of my word. My connections are assuredly sound and I shall have the Tameranian fleet here in as little as 5 days."

"The ships as well?" his 'mother' asked, her voice down to business as well, "We have an army to take back. The chips will wear off soon and as lovely as them thinking they have been kidnapped and starting a potential war is, it's not part of the plan."

"Mrs. Grayson," Luther said, "I am certain of everything I have promised you. You need not worry about anything on my part. I never break a deal when I still have latent gains to amend."

Dick turned his back to them. A Tameranian fleet? Chips? Army? What kind of deal was happening here? Surely anything that involved Luther was bad news and he knew Bruce had been acting weird lately, but making a deal with Luther? That was so far beneath him that not only was he questioning Bruce's sanity, but he was questioning his judgment too. Luther was known for double-crossing people and having shady connections.

"I think that wraps this up then," his 'father' was saying, "We'll stay in touch to keep an eye on your progress."

"Very good." Luther agreed, as the four of them made their way to the stairs.

Dick rewound the conversation in his head. He wanted to forget nothing. The chips, which he assumed wasn't referring to the snacks. The Tameranian fleet, which had to be connected to Kory. The money, which tied in to why the heck they would even need Luther's help.

He was pulled from his mind when his subconscious reminded him of something important: the four of them were leaving, and he was on the only set of steps.

"You'll have a last speech wont you?" Mary asked, looking to Bruce. "And then you'll be home?"

When Bruce nodded his head, she sighed in relief. "And the children will come with you. And this façade will have to go back up."

She put her hand on one of the cold, metal railings and began the long trek up them. "We'll have to meet with Mr. Gunner. He'll be pleased with our progress tonight. But, the girl. I'm afraid we've lost track of her."

She made it a point to look John. "But of course, we wouldn't have lost her if _someone _here wouldn't have powered down because of staying up all night."

"No," John argued, "Its_ not _my fault. We track using their psychic consciousness. Hers is just... gone. For now. A number of things could be holding up the signal or blocking it. She must be unconscious at the moment."

"And if _someone,_" Mary continued, as if she hadn't even heard him, "Had been watching Dick's residue more closely, we would at least know her last known location."

"Quiet," Bruce cut in, "This is unnecessary. Our assignments are clear. We'll call a meeting with Gunner Wilson and ask him what to do. Meanwhile, we'll keep a closer eye on Dick and we'll find the girl."

"Extraordinary leader skills," Luther said, sarcasm heavy in his voice.

The four of them left out the single door, still arguing amongst themselves, despite Bruce's attempts to quiet them. It was then that Dick dropped down from his hiding place, far above them, his arms and legs pressing at opposing sides of the two beams he was in between. It was a close call, and climbing that _smooth _support beam was challenging, but he didn't want to risk using his powers. He wasn't sure how 'psychic' worked. Whether the more you used them the more you sensed them. Or maybe you had to be conscious to sense them. Was that why they couldn't find Kory?

Why where they keeping tabs on him and Kory anyway? None of this was making sense, and still, he had barely any answers. But... Tim had given him a lead. He had a few key words. And even a person. Gunner Wilson. Whoever this Gunner guy was, he was familiar. Back when he had been on the train, his mother had raved on and on about him. How wonderful he was and how he had saved their lives. Though that was probably a bluff she had used, she had used that name and he was sure now that this Gunner guy was real.

Now, he just had to figure out how those key words added up and connected to each other. Who the Gunner guy was, because he was a leader, if not the boss entirely. And, he had to keep Kory safe. Apparently, he and her were a main part of whatever plan was being accomplished. They needed them, her included and the longer he kept her hidden, the longer he had to protect her. She wouldn't like that idea, being locked away and protected, but he _needed _to make her see his way. He had hurt her too much already, and he wasn't about to let someone else do anything to her either.

He waited a good 5 more minutes before he left through the door and out to the dark hallway. He was putting his shoes and socks back on when he came up with his master plan. He'd find Tim, let him know he was okay, then give his brother a run down on the situation. He'd wait until he got home to give Nick the full story, but he remembered things a lot easier when he was able to tell his brother a summary of things, and with his only lead now in grasp, he didn't want to forget anything.

Making his way through the kitchen, he grabbed a shrimp from a platter and mentally prepared himself for the taunting crowd of people he was forced to deal with. He pushed open the swinging kitchen door, and was immersed in body heat and the smell of expensive cologne. He quickly scanned the room, his eyes darting in and around people in rapid successions.

His eyes met with Tim's almost immediately. Tim was standing faithfully by Bruce's side, an engrossed expression on his face as he listened to the conversation Bruce was in. But his face dropped to show his real feelings: boredom and exhaustion, when their eyes met. Deciding not to interrupt (and risk being sucked into a boring conversation as well) he just nodded at Tim, receiving a small one back.

He backed away, already recalling the hiding places Nick could be when he bumped someone. For reasons unknown, he felt the need to run. To flee from something. But as Bruce Wayne's ward, he needed to show kindness and apologize. It was when he turned around that he realized maybe his powers had a hand in his forewarning. Maybe, he needed to trust those odd instincts a little more.

"There you are," Barbara said, a pleasant smile on her face, "We barely got to speak before you ran off on me."  
>"Kory," he said, silently looking for a way out, "She needed me."<p>

"Right. Kory. Where is that chick, anyway? I wanted to talk to her and she wont answer my texts."

Dick wasn't quite sure that was a good thing. What positive thing could she possibly have to say to Kory? Clearly, they weren't on each others best friends list anymore. What could Barbara possibly have to say?

"She wasn't feeling good," Dick lied, expertly if he could say so himself, "She had a headache."

"Oh the poor thing," Barbara said, sarcastically, the back of her hand going to her forehead dramatically, "I suppose you sent her home."

"No, she's in the car. We'll probably be leaving out soon."

"But Bruce's speech. You can't miss that."

"I've heard enough of his speeches to last me forever. He can do without me for a night."

She folded her arms and pouted. "But we haven't even had time to catch up."

"I'm sorry Babs," he said, not entirely sure if he was lying or not, "But this wasn't exactly a pleasure trip."

"What do you mean? You came here because of Tim's adoption papers were finalized, right? How is that not a pleasure trip?"

And he was caught in his lie. Fortunately, he was just as good at getting out of them, "I meant this party Babs. Of course we're here for Tim, and we _want _to be. This party isn't exactly my cup of tea, though y'know. I can't wait to get out of here."

"Then let's go. You and me. We'll run this town like we used to. Have some fun, just like old times."

"Babs, c'mon. Its been a long trip down here and me my friends are tired. I came here for Tim and it's not exactly fair if we go running off."

"I'll apologize personally." she said lightly, trying to persuade him.

"Babs no. Not tonight. Besides I have to go and check up on Kory."

"What are you, attached at the hip?" she asked bitterly.

If only she knew how close they _really _were. Not that it was even any of her business. He knew Barbara was just a naturally nosy person and everything and sooner or later, her being Batgirl, she'd probably find out anyway, but now was not the time. They were in public and he was on his own semi mission to find his brother. He didn't want to stay here chatting away with Barbara all night.

"Sorry again, but really, we'll talk soon." he backed away, an apologetic look on his face. Not his most subtle exit. "We'll hang out like we used to."

"Just give me a day and time." she pushed.

He knew she really _did _want a day and time. She apparently _seriously _wanted to hang out with him, but he just didn't have the time. He couldn't. So he just smiled and nodded, pretending he didn't get the hint and disappeared behind the ambassador of Bludhaven. He didn't even care _why _the ambassador was there, he was just ready to go home.

But first, he _had _to find Nick and tell him what was going on. This was just killing him and he knew that if one more thing stopped him, he was pretty sure he'd just explode on the spot. No, he wasn't the most patient person in the world, but he had his reasons.

"Dude, I'm bored."

The entire prawn and wine table became enveloped in white before it blew to bits when Garfield grabbed Dick's arm. Maybe... he _had _been serious about exploding. Chaos broke out and if Dick hadn't realized that Tim and Victor had been standing directly in front of the wine glasses that was now shattered, he may have thought the situation was funny.

Someone screamed 'hit the deck' and someone else said 'terrorist attack' and a stampede erupted. Of all the well dressed and fancy and stuck up people, not one had the common sense to just shut up and calmly walk out of the building. No, they had to throw their wine glasses to the floor and run around screaming their heads off like headless chickens.

"Dude..." Garfield breathed, realizing late that he was part of the reason Gotham's finest looked like Gotham's wildest.

Ignoring him, Dick grabbing his collar and pulled him though the fray. Of course, while everyone thought a terrorist attack was happening, he knew the only immediate danger was tripping on the floor and being stepped on. Especially since most of the women had on high heel shoes. He pushed his way towards the diminished wine table. He hadn't meant to blow anything up, but the large display of glass was the last thing he wanted to go. Particularly while Tim was anywhere near it.

He hadn't made it halfway before Victor and Tim met him. Tim's arm was bleeding, but other than that, the two looked fine.

"Time to go," Victor shouted above the noise, relief actually filling his voice, "Wheres Rachel, Kory and your brother?"

"Rachel and Kory are outside," Dick said, shoving a man who was pushing at his back, away, "Nick will know to meet us outside."

A frantic woman rushed by, throwing both Garfield and Tim to the ground. Dick simultaneously pulled Tim by his collar and Garfield up by sleeve.

"Stay on your feet," Dick ordered, "That's the real danger here. If you trip or fall, roll and get up as fast as your can."

The three of them nodded and made their way to the closest set of doors. A tall, burly man crashed head on into Dick, sending him reeling backwards. Victor, though, caught him by his jacket sleeved and helped him gain his balance with a slight shove forwards. Garfield was shoved by another man, short and stubby but apparently strong. Dick grabbed Gar by his shoulders, and pushed him ahead. Dick didn't remove his hands though, he just chose to direct Garfield that way. At least they'd have each other to hold balance.

He cast a look back to Victor, who had taken Tim by his waist and was holding him easily above his head. Figuring that Tim was as safe as he was going to get, he continued to guide Garfield. Somewhere to his right a woman was screeching with such horror that Dick was sure she was dyeing. But he sensed no pain around him. Or if he did, it didn't feel much like pain. He wasn't sure exactly _what _some one else's pain would feel like, but he was choosing to trust this odd instinct for now.

"Dick!"

He whipped his head around and spotted Barbara not even 10 feet away. She was being shoved backwards by the people around her who obviously thought the opposite way was a better choice. It shocked him how no one, not even the people by the doors, was leaving. He had never experience fear to that degree before. To the point where all rational thoughts of survival was gone, but he could understand how running for your life made you feel better. Even if it was in a cramped ball room.

He was about to steer Garfield over to her. At least he'd be able to help her get out, but at the same time, he heard Victor and Tim yelp and turned to them just in time to see Victor fall backwards, thanks to a random crowd of terrified men.

He yanked Garfield closer to himself, so that the crowd of men didn't throw him to the floor either. He totally threw Barbara to the back of his mind as he pushed, rather frivolously in fact, at an older man who was stepping on a bawled up Tim. The man fell hard, straight onto his face, but Dick just blindly grabbed for Tim, not stopping or slowing down or even breathing until he felt Tim latch back on to him.

A woman, who was rushing by, swung her bag at Dick, slapping him in the face arduously. His vision swum for a moment, the fleeting question of 'what the heck did she have in that bag' passing by like another crazed, psycho woman. He stood from his crouch, pulling Tim with him, when the both of them was tossed back to the ground by another large man.

He cursed to himself before grabbing Tim by his shoulders and spinning them both out the way of a high heal stampede. He felt a strong hand grab the back of his jacket and heel him to his feet. He looked and saw Victor pushing him and Garfield towards the exit they were so close to.

Dick tried to calm himself. This crazy atmosphere though was making it hard. He knew he would only cause more damage if he lost control of himself again. And as if in spite of his efforts, a gun shout rang loud and clear in the room. He had no doubt that it was either the Commissioner or some other cop, trying to get the people under control, but the sound had scared Dick in his already flimsy state of mind and he incidentally let his powers lose, all the windows in the building shattering like the wine glasses.

The shout and the shattering glass combined created even more havoc. The people ran faster. The women screamed louder. More people praying and crying and tucking their jewelery away and out of sight. It was maddening to think he had caused this and sickening to think that no one had the common sense to just walk out the door, all at once. Gotham, his home town, was idiotic.

Victor, his bulk coming in extra handy at the moment, was able to steer the four of them towards the door, but it was locked. Looking as far down as the crowds of people would allow, he saw Gordon locking them up. It made sense. If there really _was _a terrorist attack, it was probably better to keep him or her locked in a ballroom and not running free in the streets. But the chance that the terrorist might have been suicidal and decided to blow the whole place up made the action derisory.

Tim was already picking the lock, a pin tight in his hand, seemingly coming from nowhere, when the entire door turned an eerie black.

"Time to go," Garfield said cheerfully, stepping through the portal.

Victor followed suite and though it took some physical persuasion, Dick managed to force Tim through as well. They stepped through and came out on the other side and near the parking garage.

"Lost your focus, have we?" Rachel said, an eyebrow raised.

Dick just grumbled. Technically, it was Garfield who had made him lose his cool.

"C'mon," she said, taking the lead, "Alfred is waiting by the car and Nick and Kory is waiting with him."

Following Rachel through the dark garage, Victor yawned loudly. "Man. That was both a delicious party and a boring one. I don't know how y'all do it."

"Delicious?" Garfield argued, "That was the worst food I've ever eaten. Did you know sardines were little fishes. And that calamari was octopus?"

"Actually its squid." Tim corrected, but his voice was a lot softer than Dick remembered and he realized that Rachel's portal must if freaked him out.

He smiled despite himself. He remembered his first trip in a Black Raven. It was cold and made you feel all weird and inside out. The portal was a small thing compared to the Raven and he hoped Tim wouldn't need to go in one anytime soon.

"Shouldn't we wait for you dad?" Victor asked, "And... you know, Chris?"

Rachel groaned and Dick rolled his eyes. "Chris always finds his own way home." he explained "For tonight, his job is done. We'll drive over to the entrance for Bruce, though."

"You guys don't have to smile anymore," Tim said, smirking at Gar and Victor, knowing what was coming up next.

Garfield groaned, "Man, Nick was right. My cheeks _burn. _I forgot I was even smiling."

Victor let out a strangled half cry, half laugh, "I cant stop smiling! Man, my cheeks! They wont let me!"

Tim burst out laughing, Victor having done and reacted the way he had been waiting for. Dick ignored everyone else. Tim's laughing. Garfield's hunger complaints. Victor's cry of help. Rachel's grumblings. It all seemed so unimportant. He had just discovered his new lead and he was surprised at how ecstatic he felt. He was getting somewhere, at least.

"Master Bruce will be catching a ride with someone else, tonight." Alfred said, opening the door for them.

Dick inwardly smiled, remembering. Kory, as of now, was under Dick's protective services. She was on full lock down until he deemed it safe enough for her not to be. And since Bruce, as sick as it was, was on the wrong side of the law (seemingly, anyway), Bruce couldn't have any interference with Kory either. She wouldn't like this, but she didn't have a choice. Not again. She wouldn't get hurt because of him any more. He'd die before that happened. He just needed to keep his focus. Keep meditating and learning more about himself and _keep things in perspective_.

Because at the moment, he had an unnerving feeling that things would only get crazier and more out of control from there.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

* * *

><p>AN: Well...how was it? You guys know I get nervous about your reactions. Oh the pressure! Anyhow and anyway, you now have an explanation of why Kory freaked out and went all OC and now Dickie (LOL) has a lead and you now _also _have another little peek into the whole 'control you emotions' kind of thing_tis a dangerous thing indeed. I know a lot of you were expecting 'THE FLUFF' but really, it just didnt really fit in. I'll squeeze it in soon, I promise. If you've noticed though, Dicks warming up to Tim. I swear, Dick was just under some pressure before. He's really a good guy!

Next chapter:_: a new character that I think a lot of you will just _love_ and smother to death! STAY TUNED AND REVIEW!

_ScarletDrake


	17. Recon

Hey all you people. Hey all you people. Hey all you people wont you listen to _meeeeee!_

Spongebob moment.

Okay, so new chappy! Yaaaaaay, right?

So, new character and a little further into the investigation.

Your all going to hate me. Just so you know. I'll warn ya now, their isn't any fluff. But I swear, I already have it planned for the next chapter. I Swear. If their's anything specific you would like to see or read or have mentioned, you can review it or PM me. It's pretty likely that I'll add it in, just because I love you guys.

I'm not against fluff, I just needed to find a proper place to put it. But next chapter, it's there. Promise. Stay posted, you'll see.

Enjoy, even when its fluff-less!

Oh yeah, spoiler alert!

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

He smiled pleasantly at the passing guard. So what they all hated his guts and held daily trials to try to kill him, it still didn't mean that he didn't have to smile at them. If was one of the few things he could control. How he reacted to them and commendably, he was choosing to smile. He had tried the whole 'grrr I hate the world' thing, but he failed miserably. He just wasn't that kind of person. Which was odd, even for him.

He had been born on a planet, millions of light years away from his current position. Birthed on a distressed planet. As a baby, he had had been traded by the people as a gift. As the planets last hope. A lone prince bartered to save the lives of many. He was sold around, like a piece of furniture. Passed like a potato of hotness. Whatever that meant. He was a slave to others. Forced to bend to whatever will they choose to deal to him. He was caged like an animal, thrown in a cell and kept there all day.

Most people would think that a baby born into hatred would grow to be hateful, dumb, and angry, but he was all the opposites. He was almost annoyingly cheerful and he hardly got angry at anything. And though he'd never tell anyone, he was pretty smart if he could say so himself. He was self-taught in every subject and language there was.

He smiled at another guard, throwing in a wave just to annoy the lizard man. That was the seventh guard. According to their shifts, that would mean an hour and a half had gone by. For him, it was lunch time and reading time. This was about when the lizard men, or Gordanians, rather, took their recreational break. They would all be on the south side of the ship for about an hour.

Just because he was friendly and liked to smile didn't mean he was good at following the rules.

Waiting until he heard no more foot steps, he calmly stood and went over to his cot. It was a hard cot and had no blanket or pillows, but he made do. He just slept on his arms or hands and after a little work out, he could usually raise his body heat a good few degrees, which warmed him up to an almost comfortable temperature.

Lifting up the back right leg of the cot, he grabbed the small pin that lay there. He went back to his cell door and began to pick the lock on it, his other hand unconsciously going to the bracelet on his right wrist for the millionth time that day. Just one of his subconscious, nervous, habits. In another half an hour, the bracelet would light up and drain his powers, rendering him useless. It did this everyday. Every half hour. No one wanted him fully powered up and set on escaping. He was too valuable.

The lock clicked open and he slipped the pin in his boot. With practiced knowing, he walked down the hallway and towards the kitchen. The food he normally got once a day was dry leftovers from the large animals the Gordanians housed. He had taken to calling them 'Rotnas' or killers in just a few of the languages he knew. So twice a day, he snuck himself something from the kitchen.

He peeked around the corner, certain no one was even there. This was his routine, but he could never be too careful. Punishment here could mean his death or leave him wishing for death. A few failed escape plans had ended in some of those punishments. No, nothing was worth them. Yet. He'd wait a while before he tried anything else. Maybe, he could figure out how to get his wrist bracelet off. Surely if he could get access to his powers, he'd be more willing to try to escape again. Or maybe, he was just too afraid. Whatever the reason, it should not interfere with his schedule. His days were timed perfectly and he had to keep time.

Just as he expected, the kitchen was empty. He walked to the box they kept all the sandwiches in and chose a small one. He had to be careful not to let anything look disturbed or tampered with. No one could expect he had been there. He unwrapped the sandwich, eating it as he threw away the wrapper. Back at his cell, he'd have nowhere to hide it. He checked, one last time, for dropped crumbs, and moved on when he saw none. After 13 years of this, he was pretty good. But he could never be too sure.

The library was closer to his cell, and right next to a bathroom. He allowed himself three breaks a day. A bathroom break in the morning, afternoon, and one before bed at night. He was royalty after all. He hoped no one expected him to use that filthy hole that sat in the back of his cell. He'd drop dead first.

He finished his sandwich and turned into the library, sneaking two glances down the hall before entering. The Algebra book he had already finished, Einstein's Theory of Relativity Unmasked, and Chemistry Behind the pH Scale, was all he had left to read. And even then, he only had a few pages left in each to finish. He had read through the Literature books and art and music books already. He had gone through the simple math, like adding and counting, back when he was 5. Algebra he finished at 8 and Biology he finished at 10. He had taught himself to read. To count. Add. And multiply. He knew the pH scale by heart and knew what each combination of amino acids did. He could say the alphabet backwards and in every language the Gordanians had in the library.

Because he was so drawn to physics, he decided he'd finish the pH scale book that day and save the rest for another day. He was trying to stretch out his supply. He was running out of books to read and things to learn. He wondered what he would do when there was nothing else to read.

Tucking his book under his arm, he left the library, the bathroom first on his mind. He'd think about possible boredom at another time. He had plenty of time.

The sound of quick steps stopped him in his path. He reminded himself not to panic and keened his ears. The steps were coming from behind him, and judging by the sound and foot pattern, he had roughly 20 seconds. He put those seconds to good use as he silently ran forward, ducking into a hallway and pressing his back against it. He just hoped whoever was coming closer didn't need to go down that hallway.

Fortunately, the Gordanian ran past without even slowing down. His green eyes bugged for a moment when he realized, even from behind, that that was not just a Gordanian, but Zaroff, the captain of the whole ship! What could possibly cause _Zaroff _to run down the hallway at top speed?

_Go back to your cell. _He told himself. _Just go back and maybe you'll get the story from a passing guard. _

That was so unlikely that he pushed away all common sense. He _needed _to know what was happening.

With another look around, he ran out the hallway and followed Zaroff. The long hallways snaked around and Zaroff knew exactly where he was going. It was confusing and winding, but soon Zaroff entered the control room and took his usual seat in the front.

Following from a distance, the boy could see that an intermission was being set up. Slipping into the room, he found a dark corner that would keep him from the intermission view and any other Gordanians views. He hadn't even had a chance to make himself comfortable before the screen lit up with black and white static. A buzzing sound was heard before the screen cleared up, revealing a man in a suite.

Zaroff and the man traded salutations, but the boy couldn't shake from his head the sight of someone... like himself. Of all the 13 years he had been living, the only person he had ever seen was himself. Gordanians hardly counted as human. But he shook his head, he came here to listen and find out what was going on.

"Luther," Zaroff was saying, "As I said before, I will most definitely fall through on the deal. The boy is already in captivity, has been his whole life. There is nothing to worry about."

It seemed as if Luther was waiting for something, and it dawned on the boy that Zaroff's words must have been being translated. The boy was mildly alarmed that he could understand both languages just fine.

"Very good," the man, Luther, said, his words also translating immediately to the Gordanians weird tongue, "I have the money here for you, awaiting your pickup."

"A fleet is already on its way," Zaroff answered with a nod, "And my own ship is coming into position. Once I have the money in possession, the same fleet will return and give you the boy."

"Do you have an ETA?"

"They should be there most likely by tonight, by your standards."

"Very well. You have my coordinates?"

Zaroff nodded.

"Good," Luther said, smiling, "Then I will await you fleet. Pleasure doing business with you general."

"Same to you."

And with that, the transmission ended.

The boy didn't wait to hear another word. The moment the coast was clear, he ran, full speed back to his cell, not slowing down until he dropped the pin back under his cot and hid his book under it as well. He wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but it sounded like he was being traded again. And this time, it wasn't to any Tameranian fleets. This time, it was to a human. Someone who lived far away.

He wasn't too familiar with human interactions, but if he knew Zaroff, he couldn't be going anywhere nice. Zaroff would only trade him to someone who was either equally evil or more so, and that was just plain hard for the boy to comprehend. He almost wished he hadn't of heard. He didn't want to go to anyone worse than Zaroff. He just wanted to sit in his cell and keep his normalcy. He hadn't been tested on in a while and he was starting to think that that Luther guy had something to do with it.

Well, being traded meant going to a new ship. He had been traded a good dozen times and over the years, those ship trading times where always the most confusing. If he used that confusion to his advantage, maybe he could escape. Maybe he could get off the ship and avoid any masters all together. Maybe he'd be free.

He looked out his small window and into deep space. But where would he go? He knew he was a prince of something. Of royal heritage. But as far as he knew, he was an only child and had no other family. He was told his parents were dead, but never had he heard the name of his planet. If he could even escape, where would he run to? He had nowhere to go.

He shook his head. He would go anywhere but to Luther. If he had a chance at freedom, he would take it. It didn't matter where he went, as long as he was free.

"Ryand'r."

He snapped around at the sound of his name. It was just a guard, there to tease him or torment him. Most of the guards here liked to make fun of his red hair or big eyes or orange skin or helpless situation. According to their species, he was extremely unattractive and they made sure he knew that. He didn't care though. He just smiled at the guard and turned back to the window.

He was a prince somewhere out there. He was someone who was loved and needed and important. But here, on this ship, he was Ryand'r. Prince of nothing.

* * *

><p>Dick was as careful as he could be as he laid Kory down on her bed. She was still out cold. Rachel said she'd probably be up the next day, but he had his doubts. She was so... out. So unconscious. He had no way of really describing it.<p>

He had chosen this room specifically for her. It was an eastern room, right in front of where the sun came up and it was close to his room. The room Alfred had chosen and cleaned was now going to no use. Dick didn't want anyone knowing where she was sleeping, so he chose her a new floor and new room. Only himself, Alfred, the titans, and Tim knew where she was and he would make sure it stayed that way.

He wished he could make her comfier. She looked so uncomfortable in her dress, but he wasn't about to change her or anything. He just settled on draping a blanket over her.

Leaving her room, he loosened his tie and unbuttoned his top shirt buttons. It was time to get to work now. The titans and Tim should have already been waiting for him in the cave. Of course, lying to them and telling them Kory had been hit with a waiters tray made it hard for him to ditch them, but he managed.

He expertly opened the clock and stepped inside the elevator, ignoring the thought about how long it had been since he had done that. Surely Nick would already be on the bat-computer, already setting things up for him and Tim would probably be doing his best to discreetly exit so that he could change out of his suite, but Dick needed everyone in one place and he mentally willed the elevator faster.

He stepped off the elevator and ran straight into Rachel.

"Try and will something to go faster again and you might just find yourself laying in a heap of broken elevator."

Dick inwardly flinched at that. He had forgotten... again. _Control, _he chanted to himself, _control, control, control. _

"Set up?" Dick asked, coming up behind Nick.

"All ready for you. You just have to round-up the animals."

Dick already expected this. Garfield and Victor walked, sometimes running, gasping and clapping and oohing and ahhing. They _were _in the batcave.

"Dude!" Garfield screamed, squealing when he heard his voice echo. "I am Batman!"

Rachel smiled, letting her real powers out for the first time all day. Tim, who was halfway up the stairs, Victor who was looking at the batmobile tires, and Garfield, who was talking with the bats, was each dragged over to the screen.

"Rae," Garfield gushed, "Have you tried screaming in here?"

"No," she deadpanned, "But if you keep calling me Rae, I'm going to."

"Quiet," Dick said, pulling some files up. "We're gonna split up for some recon missions, tonight."

"You ain't serious," Victor asked, "Man, this ain't Jump. We can't just go around like we live here."

"Plus," Garfield said, matter of factly, "There are crazy people out there. People, who laugh while they kill, y'know?"

"Oh suck it up," Rachel deadpanned, her powers pulling Tim, who was crawling away, back.

"I just want to change!" he exclaimed, "I hate this thing."

Dick shook his head. Hopefully, he could get even further in this investigation. He needed to move along a little faster. He raised an eyebrow, his entire vision suddenly going black for a minute. He felt cold and his insides felt a bit like they were outside. He didn't panic, knowing it was only Rachel, but he was a bit confused when the darkness faded and he was in uniform.

"What?" she said, now Raven, with a shrug, "I'm tired of sitting around and playing rich girl."

"Alright Beast Boy," Dick said, taking that as a cue to continue, "I'm going to have you on a stake out. Theirs a man, Lex Luther that I want to you observe." Dick, now Robin, pulled up file with Luther's picture. "I have reason that pretty soon, he'll be buying something expensive and I want to know what it is and what it's for. Your not to engage, just watch and take notes."

Beast Boy grumbled. "I'm tired of sitting around being bored."

Ignoring him, Robin minimized the file. "Raven, I'm going to have you do some research for me. I don't have anything but a name, Gunner Wilson. I want to know everything about him. His childhood. Wife. Kids. Life. Record. Anything you can find."

She nodded, looking eager to do something other than wait for things, like parties, to be over.

"Cyborg, I'm sending you with Beast Boy. Specifically, I want you to check on Luther's account. Look for any transactions of deposits or funds. See where money is going and while you're at it, look at Bruce Wayne's too. I want to know how much was taken out and put in. And be careful, both of them have security like nobody's business."

"On it," he answered.

"Blue Jay and I have something else to take care of."

Blue Jay raised a brow but didn't say a word. With a nod of Robins head, everyone dispersed. Off on their own assignments. Robin was on his way to one of Bruce's spare cycles when Tim blocked his path.

"What about me?" he asked, as if this was all a forgotten misunderstanding.

"What about you?" Robin asked back.

"What do you want me to do?"

Robin knew where Tim was coming from. But... what they were dealing with, he didn't want Tim to get involved with.

"I..." he thought, "Want you to stay and watch Kory."

Tim's face fell so fast Robin wondered if it was natural.

"Tim seriously," he said, "Kory needs protection. My parents and Bruce are on the lookout for her and the last thing I want is for them to find her when I'm nowhere near. Don't do anything to wake her, I'm thinking her being asleep is keeping her off the radar, but don't make any phone calls from her room or anything like that. You know the drill, right?"

Tim nodded his head, seeming to feel better about his assignment now that Robin stressed the importance of it. With that, he climbed onto a motorcycle, Blue Jay taking the one Batman would normally take, and they were off out and into the street.

Robin tapped his helmet twice and he heard a click, signaling that Blue Jay had turned on his mic.

"Where too?" he asked.

"Arkam Asylum."

"Visiting a friend are we?"

Robin braked hard, turning almost horizontal to fly around a slow-moving car, "Sort of. When I snuck into that cold room the word 'chip' came up a few times."

A squeal of brakes was heard and Robin cocked his head to see Blue Jay swerving around a truck. A chorus of beeps was heard suddenly, before someone screamed something about a cape. The beeping and ignorant words stopped immediately, the people finally figuring out that they were heroes and had more important things to do.

"And you want to see the master of mind controlling chips. The Mad Hatter." Blue Jay continued, as if nothing had happened.

"Correct."

Robin's helmet beeped and Robin tapped his helmet patching himself and Blue Jay in to the team.

"_Dude," _came Beast Boys voice, _"I've found the Luther guy you were talking about. He's not doing anything special. He's just... standing on his roof with a secretary or something. He's got a suitcase, but nothing else is really happening."_

"_And I," _Cyborg cut in on his link, _"Found that within the last 24 hours, Luther has made no transitions or deposits. But Wayne, on the other hand, has taken out about 23,130,300 euros from a Spain account. That's about 30,000,000 US dollars, man!"_

"_And Kory's still sleep."_

"Tim- what the- ? How did you patch into this frequency?" Robin asked.

Tim was just a kid, but he had his fair share of issues. He was quiet, and yet he still talked too much. He snuck around putting up cameras and hacked into random places just for the heck of it. He was as mysterious as Batman usually was, and he still managed to act his age. What was it with him?

"_I just used your frequency and tracked a-"_

"Forget it Tim. Thanks for the update."

Robin stole a glance at Blue Jay, who was humorously shaking his head.

"_And about this Gunner guy," _Raven said, her link taking over now, _"I haven't found much yet, but apparently, he died back in a freak accident. Not much news covered the story, but it just looks like his house caught on fire in the middle of the night. He died with his wife, but, I have found something interesting. Their was an old picture of him found on sight. I ran an analysis scan and found what he would look like today. I found a match of someone looking like him. The mans name is Nathaniel and his last name is Wilson._ _ He has a son, Slade Joseph Wilson. I haven't looked him up yet, but I'll find the connections soon."_

"Alright," Robin said, the asylum coming up in his view, "All of you, just keep searching and waiting."

They all gave a simultaneous alright, and ended the calls. He was trying to keep his cool about hearing the name Slade, but it was such an unusual name. How many people could possibly choose it? He'd keep his mind open, but he couldn't shake the connection. He was hoping, silently, that this Gunner or Nathaniel guy, whichever he was, was _not_ really related to Slade in any way.

Upon reaching the asylum gates, Robin didn't slow down. He just saluted to the guard and ducked his head under the gate. If the guard had a problem or didn't trust him, he was too slow to catch Robin and Blue Jay anyway. They parked their bikes in the front and walked through the doors, experiencing no problems there either.

"C-can I h-help you?" a guard asked, standing up while saluting, as they went up to the desk in front of the prisoners room.

The man was impossibly tall, his shaven, tan face so straight and serious it was almost funny. He had bright red hair, sticking out from underneath his blue uniform hat, giving him more of a clown look than a guard.

"Just visiting," Blue Jay said, his fingers mindlessly tapping his legs.

"Yes, sir." the man barked, tripping on his swivel chair in his haste to open the prisoner back door for them. "Anything else I can help you with, sir?"

"No," Robin said, his eyebrow raised, "I think we're good."

"Enjoy the visit, sirs."

Robin cringed, the mans spit flying far away from where he was even standing. He hurried through the door, wanting to create as much distance between himself and the man as he could.

"Must be a new guy." Blue Jay said, shaking his head as they made their way down the hall.

"Did he tell us to 'enjoy our visit'?" Robin asked, humored.

"How much fun _can _you have in a prison?"

"He loves his job way too much."

"Jervis Tetch," Blue Jay read on the door, as they reached a door. "He'll be a little surprised to see us. Better be prepared."

Robin mentally steeled himself. The man had never been completely sane, but it was always startling to see just how crazy the man really was. It was sad. The man was a scientific genius, for him to waste it hurting people was a crime in itself.

Blue Jay pushed open the heavy door, and for a moment, it looked as if the room were empty. Robin made sure to close the door behind himself as he entered. The last thing they needed was a sicko genius on the run... again.

"He's on his cot," Blue Jay said, pointing at the small bundle curled up on the cot.

They shared a look before Robin slowly went over. He took the usual details in. Tetch was breathing fine. Even. He was moving a bit in sleep. And, he was hat-less. Which was good considering that was his number one asset when he became the Mad Hatter.

Robin grabbed the man by his jail suit collar and lifted him into a sitting position. Robin had expected the man to pop up, eyes wide and terrified from the sudden jerk, but Tetch didn't move a muscle. He fell back, his body limp and his breathing still even. Blue Jay came up beside Robin, slapping the man lightly on the face. Jervis didn't even take a deeper breath.

"That's odd," Robin said, mainly to himself, but Blue Jay nodded.

"Sure he's not faking it?" he asked.

Robin shook his head, "He's one heck of an actor then. For his breathing to still be so regular?"

"Maybe he's had a sedate."

"Doubt it. Jervis isn't one to need it."

Robin was laying Jervis back down, prepared to go out and ask the guard when something on Jervis's neck caught his attention. Carefully, Robin turned Jervis over, and looked closely.

"It's some kind of chip," Blue Jay said, squinting beside him. "But who would want to put a chip on Jervis?"

Robin shook his head. He had no idea. Pulling out a baggy from his belt, he plucked the chip from Jervis and put it in the baggy and then into his belt. The trip hadn't quite been successful, but at least they hadn't reached a dead-end.

"Guess we better go," Blue Jay said, already heading out the door, "I'll come back another time, see maybe if Jervis knew what happened."

Robin followed Blue Jay down the hall, slowing down, almost stopping, when he saw that the cell than normally held the Joker was empty. He remembered seeing Joker back in Jump, but he had had word that the Joker had been put back in jail previously. Where could the mad man be now?

He shook his head, too many problems. Joker was Batman's problem anyway. That is... considering Batman was even still on the good side of the law.

"Where's that guard?" Robin asked, as they exited the prison dorm. "This part needs the most protection. _Someone _should be here on guard."

Blue Jay just shrugged. "Newbie, remember?"

Robin grumbled to himself. Could nothing go right? It wasn't until they were both on their bikes, halfway back to the manor when a ring sounded in his helmet, that he spoke.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"_Robin. Blue Jay. Its Beast Boy. We've got a problem. Like, an alien invasion problem."_

Robin rolled his eyes. Beast Boy claimed the earth was being invaded at least twice a week. Why should it be any different in Gotham? Slowing down at a light, Robin jumped, feeling Blue Jay hit his arm. Annoyed, Robin looked to Blue Jay only to gap. Blue Jay was pointing in the general direction of where Beast Boy and Cyborg should be, Luther's work building, but above that was what got his attention.

For a moment, he lost what he had been looking at, whatever it was blending in so well with the night sky that it was startling, but a beam of light shone out of the darkness, in thin air, giving him his target again. He and Blue Jay were already speeding towards the building when he patched himself in to Raven.

"_I'm already on my way," _she said, _"Hold on, I'm sending a Raven for the both of you."_

Robin knew what that meant and mentally prepared himself. Within the second, he felt as if he were falling out of the sky, the floor slipping away into darkness. The inky black swallowed his bother and him, but in an instant, they were on the rooftop across from Luther's, and standing behind Beast Boy and Cyborg.

"Dude, what did I tell you," Beast Boy said, pointing crazily as if Robin himself couldn't see it himself.

With the thing so camouflaged, Robin could barely see the thing, but random beams of light were shining through holes. It looked... kind of like a ship. A weird, oddly abstract shaped ship, anyway.

"Man," Cyborg said, shaking his head, "I don't know if we should mess with that thing. Its big enough to fit 20 of our ships in it."

"We're not going to mess with it," Robin confirmed, "I don't think it means any harm anyway."

Beast Boy verbally gaped at him, but Robin focused on the ship. It hovered just above Luther's building, and even in the dark night, Robin could see Luther and his robotic body-guard Mercy, standing just as calm and collected as possible. A loud hiss was heard as one of the space crafts doors opened up.

Something slithery climbed up Robin's arm and he had to assume it was Beast Boy, but instead of shaking the animal off, Robin took out a pair of binoculars, to get a better look.

"Do you hear that?" Raven asked.

But Robin didn't need to hear it. He could feel it. Rhythmic thumps, like a big band of marching robots, shook both the building they were on and Luther's building. Car alarms went off from the thumping and Robin heard the distant burst of a fire hydrant followed by several loud dog and cat screams. The snake on Robin's arm tightened, and Robin looked closer in his binoculars.

Mercy, Luther's body-guard opened up a door, allowing what Robin could perceive as a little girl out. Her skin was a vibrant orange but her eyes were a pale blue color. Her red hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she seemed to be in a daze as she marched out silently.

"Hey," Beast Boy said, getting off Robin and shifting back to a human. "She looks just like-"

"Star," Robin finished off.

It was obvious. Starfire had a lot of memorable aspects about her, the skin, hair, and big eyes were just a few.

"She's a Tameranian." he concluded, ignoring how Beast Boy complained about never remembering how to pronounce that.

"But whats she doing over there with Luther?" his brother asked, mirroring his own question. "And how could that little girl cause all of that stomp-"

Before he could finish, the stomping was back, but much louder, apparently closer. No sooner had Robin made the assumption, a little boy came out of the door, walking to stand beside the little girl. He was followed by an older looking boy, probably around Robin himselfs age. A smaller girl came out after him, and she was followed by a girl who looked older than Robin. Pretty soon, kids and teenagers were pouring out of that door faster than the ship could get a ramp down and load them on.

"Raven," Robin said, swiveling around to her, "Can you read Luther's mind and see whats going on. If those kids are in any danger."

She nodded, her eyes closing as she concentrated. "The children," she said, still reading his mind, "They're... they're being taken home. To Tamaran. They were... kidnapped."

"Who would want to kidnap a bunch of kids?" Beast Boy asked.

"Look." Blue Jay said, pointing as one of the boys shivered in the air.

He still looked to be in a daze, but regardless, he pulled on a hoodie he had had tucked under his arm. Robin had just been noting, or remembering rather, how Tameranians weren't very resilient to weather when the boy pulled the hood up. His breath caught.

"Do you guys..." Cyborg trailed off. "I mean... He looks like..."

All the titans could do was nod. The boy, with his hood up, sent a wave of deja vou through Robin's head. All he could think about now was that boy back in the break in at the tower and that 'army' of people chasing him and Starfire out to Gotham in the first place. All those kids, the killers and weird gun shooters, they were Tameranians, kidnapped to do someones dirty work.

"I'm starting to feel bad about hitting some of them," Beast Boy said, "Some of those little girls look like their no older than, like, seven. And that boy can't be any older than eight."

Robin could hardly believe that a bunch of children had chased not just him and his brother, but his entire team out of the city. Granted, they apparently had some Tameranian tech with them, but he should have put up more of a fight to unmask at least one of them. He should have gotten Raven to try to read their minds or something.

"At least their going home now," Raven said, looking neutral as the last of the children were loaded on the ship.

"Look, look, look," Beast Boy said excitedly at a new discovery, "Its one of those... um... its one of those..."

Beast Boy nudged Robin roughly and confused as dirt, Robin could only respond, "Gordanians."

The tall lizard-like creature walked off of the ship and made his way over to where Luther and Mercy was standing. His tail swished around uselessly, but he seem like he was moving to attack or make any rash moves, actually. Instead, he walked up to Luther, rather casually and began speaking to him.

"I'll try to magnify the conversation," Cyborg said, one of his fingers turning to a small satellite looking dish and his arm opening up with a speaker built-in it.

"General Sewred," Luther was saying, "I trust your trip was fine."

The Gordanian, Sewred, nodded his head. Then, in possibly the worst English Robin had ever heard, answered with, "The money."

"Ah, yes." Luther said, handing Sewred the briefcase he held, "down to business. Everything's in there and accounted for."

"Very good."

"And the boy?"

Sewred, licked his green lips, seemingly searching for the right things to say.

"The boy," he said, "Is... in route. My fleet and I will return to the mother-ship and retrieve him, then bring him back here and exchange him for the rest of the money."

Luther smiled, "Sounds great."

With that, Sewred turned around and headed back on the ship. The door had barely closed before the ship seemed to stretch at light-speed out into space and disappear.

"With all those kids," Beast Boy said, confused, "Whats so special about one boy?"

"And why is he worth so much money?" Cyborg cut in.

Robin just sighed. That was just two more questions he needed answers too. So far, out of the zillions of questions he had, he hadn't answered any of them.

"Lets go home and brief up," Blue Jay suggested, probably seeing Robin enter his thinking space. With so much going on, he just wanted a few minutes to process things.

"I'll just port us back," Raven said.

Robin barely had time to process that thought before he fell through the roof and into blackness. He shivered a bit, the air in Raven's portal bitter cold. He hadn't been falling for a total of 10 seconds before he landed on his feet in the wet, damp, cave that he knew so well. Had he not of had strong ankles, he was sure they would sting like crazy. Like Beast Boys, who was complaining loudly.

Robin turned to look behind himself, glad Raven had brought the two motorcycles as well. But his head swiveled back around when he heard Cyborg squeal. Beast Boy was laughing before he even figured out _what _had cause Cyborg to scream, but Robin put two and two together when he saw Tim standing in front of Cyborg, his head tilted and a confused look on his face.

"Tim," Cyborg said between his deep breathing, "Your like, Batman or something. Did you just get here?"

Tim shook his head. "I've been standing here the whole time."

"Weren't you supposed to be watching Kory?" Raven asked, walking around him.

"I was," he argued, "But I came over here to warn Robin."

Robin was in the midst of asking what when he felt the unnerving instinct to run. It was familiar, but he didn't have time to piece together what he remembered he feeling from before he heard a shrill bark of laughter.

"He returns." said the voice, and Robin instantly remembered where he had had that feeling last.

"Hey Babs," he said turning around, only to see a steaming Batgirl standing, her hands on her hips.

Well, her secret was out. But she didn't even seem to notice.

"Don't _Babs _me, Dick. I'm pissed off at you."

As if that weren't already obvious, she continued.

"You left me. _Left _me in that stupid ball room."

Oh yeah. He had almost forgotten about leaving her to save Tim from certain doom.

"But I had to save-" he tried to defend, but she growled, as if he were already in enough trouble and was only making it worse.

"-Tim." he finished, in spite of her.

There was a shuffle and Robin smiled, seeing Tim make a break for the stairs, probably uncomfortable with being dragged into the conversation. There was a ping and Robin diverted his eyes over to where the rest of the team had escaped to and was looking at the bat-computer. The ding meant that some information had finished calculating and Robin could _not _miss any opportunities to get any more info.

"Babs," he said, already making his way over to the team, "I'd love to talk about how horrible a person I am, but right now, I'm in the middle of something important."

She didn't do anything visual to allow him to exit. Instead, she made her way over herself, unofficially joining his self rescue mission.

"I have the rest of the information on Gunner or Nathaniel, rather." Raven said, as he took a seat on the edge of the counter.

Raven sat where Blue Jay had previously been. After studying the keys for a moment, she pressed one, pulling up a file that had been minimized.

"Okay," she said, a photo of an old man coming up, "This is Nathaniel Wilson."

She pulled another photo up, this time, a younger man with brown hair and blue eyes came up.

"This is Gunner Wilson."

She pulled the two photos up next to each other, "Same person."

"But I thought Gunner was dead," Cyborg asked, looking carefully between the two pictures.

"It must have been faked," Raven said, sending the photos down and bringing up a shot of a slightly older Gunner clad in a shady over coat, "Apparently, Nathaniel wasn't exactly on the right side of the law. He sold drugs and did some shady deals with apparent notorious people in Gotham."

Raven pulled up a long list of things Nathaniel must have sold. "Two Face and Scarecrow ring any bells?"

Robin nodded, but Raven was already pulling up a picture of a brown-haired woman holding a small baby. "His son, Slade Wilson."

Raven pulled up another photo, this time of an older Slade Wilson, smiling for what looked like a school picture. He had to be either a senior or already out of school.

"Hey," Batgirl said, speaking up for the first time, "I've seen him before. He's in a picture with my dad. He had on a military uniform."

Raven pulled up a picture with Slade Wilson in dark green camouflage clothes. "He was in the military some years back. Accounts say he was excused from the force after having negative side effects from a drug he had been tested on."

"What kind of tests?" Blue Jay asked.

Raven pulled up another screen, a drugs chemical information coming up, "Apparently, it's some kind of stimulant, but instead of invigorating the circulatory system, it stimulates the reflexes and adrenaline. He got faster and stronger. His reflexes were better and his senses were enhanced."

"Did he go blind or something?" Beast Boy asked, noticing a photo of him with an eye patch.

"No," Raven said, pulling up a head-shot picture of a smiling woman with brown hair and dark blue eyes, "His wife, Adeline shot it out. Their divorced now."

Their was a collective hiss of mental pain from the group. What could possibly cause Adeline to shoot her _husbands _eye out? And how could Adeline possibly shoot a man in the eye. A man with _enhanced _senses and reflexes. Either his enhancement had been on break, or she had more skills than her smiling face let on.

"No one knows why," Rachel said, unfazed, "And I don't have much information on her."

"Do you have her address?" Robin asked.

When Raven nodded, though hesitantly, he settled in himself that those Nathaniel and Slade guys at least gave him another lead. If Adeline could give up some information on her ex-husband, Robin would be a few steps ahead of the game.

"She has a son," Tim said, standing quietly at Cyborg's side, and earning another squeal from him. "I don't know his name though. Blonde kid with blue eyes."

Robin wasn't sure when Tim had come back down the stairs or even how he had made it over without Robin hearing, but Robin was mildly impressed.

After asking Raven to print out the address for him, he left the cave, a screaming Batgirl, and the team to check up on Kory.

He had the address memorized before he got to the top of the stairs. He had a lot of new information and he wanted to jot it down the moment he left Kory and went to his room. He had figured out where the kid army had come from. He deducted that someone had stolen some microchips from the Mad Hatter and was using them to control people. Luther was buying some kid from the Gordanians and Bruce was paying for it. His 'mother' and 'father' were keeping tags on himself and Kory. Barbara was crazy. Tim was more useful than he let on. And, Slade Wilson was on his lookout list.

Robin couldn't help it. His arch-nemesis was named Slade and suddenly, Raven finds someone else, who just happens to have enhanced senses and abilities also named Slade. He was half hoping his gut was right and that the two were the same. Not that revenge was on his mind, but knowing Slade's identity kind of made up for Slade knowing his.

After a quick decision, Robin changed his clothes and put on some basketball shorts and a t-shirt before heading to check on Kory.

But even as he did a routine of checking her pulse and breathing, he couldn't get Slade out his mind. He needed more physical information on the man. Satisfied that Kory was properly laid and that she was as comfortable as he, a male, could make her, he left down the hall to his own room.

Pulling out a notepad he kept in his desk, he sketched a quick drawing of the Slade he knew from Jump, adrenaline pulsing through his veins when he erased the right eye and made it a slit instead. It wasn't his best quick sketch, but he got meaning out of it and it helped him remember Slade's appearance. Standing up against his closet, he marked his height. Then, imagining Slade with his minds eyes, he measured where he remembered Slade to be. He knew for sure he was about 5'4 or 5'5 but he had to measure up to where he thought Slade might be.

The height he measured for Slade came to about 78 inches, which would make him around 6'6. He took a deep breath before he pulled his private laptop from his desk drawer and hacked into the batcave database. Looking up Slade Wilson, he found the file Raven had saved her information in and he opened up Slade Wilson's record. She had hacked into a private doctors office and gotten his height, which measure him as 6'4. So either Slade and Slade Wilson both were both missing their right eye and were about the same height, or he was crazy.

Of course, two coincidences didn't make it true, but now, he could make that suspicion a theory, and until he proved it absolutely true, he would mentally treat Slade Wilson as if he were the Slade Richard knew and hate.

Tomorrow, he would visit Adeline, hoping of course that the address was right and that she was even still alive. He would inspect the chip they got from the Mad Hatter more and he would figure out how to make psychic residue invisible.

A simple agenda for him.

* * *

><p>Ryan was just about sleep. His eyes were closed and he could tell his own breathing was easy. All he could see was blackness, and it wasn't just because his cells level was always shut down at night. Laying on his arm, he thought about the bracelet on his wrist. He could feel it draining any extra power he had, but was used to it and the draining only made him feel even more tired.<p>

Suddenly, he jumped suddenly, his whole body seeming to convulse. He paid it no mind, recalling in his anatomy book something called sleep Myoclonus. It was a normal condition. It happened when muscles contract quickly and spasm, normally while someone was trying to fall asleep. He felt a little dizzy, with his eyes closed, and felt a little like he was falling, but that was also a sign of the Myoclonus.

He tried to go back to his sleep void, but the dizziness continued. Normally, when he got the spasms, it was only once and he was able to quickly shake off the vertigo and go back to sleep. But at the moment, he couldn't tell or remember which way he was laying. He wasn't sure if he were facing the left or the right, and for a moment, he couldn't decipher which was up or down.

The feeling made his stomach flip, and he sat up slowly, his fingers massaging his head as a growing headache made itself known. He hadn't had a headache in weeks, or since his last testing. Even with his eyes open, it was too dark to see, and that only fueled the dizziness.

Despite knowing that his powers were drained, he allowed the energy to course through his veins. It was usually pointless, the most he could do with his energy was emit was a dim light, but at the moment, that was all he wanted. A little bit of light. His land lit, casting a pale blue glow in his cell, but he hadn't even gotten a good look around before his body spasmed again.

But this time, his entire body went numb and he fell back onto his hard cot, unable to support his body any longer. His energy seemed to drain again and he was thrown into darkness as his light faded. He hardly ever got drained to that capacity, the guards knowing that he couldn't break out with a pale light. He heard footsteps, and with his last remaining bit of energy, managed to turn his head in the dark.

He was barely able to keep his eyes open, when he was grabbed roughly by his hair and pulled from his cot. He didn't even have the vigor to shout from the pain that added to his splitting headache. Whoever had his hair, a Gordanian he presumed, didn't let go, and instead, dragged him out his cell. He had no choice but to comply, his body feeling heavy and lifeless.

They must have hit him with some kind of sedative drug. Somehow, though, this was familiar. He remembered this procedure from his last transfer. That had been about 3 years before, but he still remembered those uncontrollable spasms the drugs gave him. But they didn't have to shoot him in his sleep, he probably would have complied if they had asked him nicely.

Probably.

If tonight was the night, his escape plan wasn't going to happen. He just didn't have the strength to fight back let alone fly away to safety. And even if he _could_ try to fight, with their weapons there wouldn't be much he could do.

The Gordanian continued dragging him by his hair down the hallway. He would have asked, probably too polite for the situation, to at least drag him by his arm or leg, but he could hardly muster the strength to open his mouth, let alone make that weird sound the Gordanians used to speak with. So he bit his lip, and waited to arrive at wherever he was being sent to. No doubt some labor ship or experimental ship. With his abilities and social status, he was never sent anywhere remotely normal. He was either going to be tested on or forced to work for some leader who felt only high standing people were 'worthy' enough to serve him.

Whoever it was, he must had money too. Gordanians were not only gluttonous and cruel, but they were greedy. They wouldn't sell him for a small amount of money.

Ryan squinted as he was taken to a bright and large room. Gordanians lined all the walls, their langdebeves and halberds standing in their hands menacingly. Ryan _oomphed _as his head was dropped painfully on the ground. Claws scratched at his wrists, cutting him, as a Gordanian quickly moved to put some kind of binds on him. He couldn't help but cry out in pain with the strength he didn't have, when whatever was holding his wrists together seemed to suck even more power from him. His original wristband, the one that he hadn't had off in three years, was taken off easily with a key.

Claws grabbed at his hair and he was pulled roughly to his feet. This was by far the fastest transfer he had ever gone through. Normally, he would somehow end up tied to a pole while whoever his previous masters had been partied and spit in his face.

The Gordanians simultaneously moved forwards and made a path leading up to the ships exit door. It was about 20 of them on each side of the path he now had to walk through, each one of them smiling as if they were getting rid of trash that was bothering them. Well, they were smiling, but it wasn't a party or any spitting.

Something sharp poked him in the back. He knew the drill and with his head held high and gathering all the dignity he could muster, he began the pitiful walk towards the exit. Something made the ship jump, but even in his weakened state, Ryan kept his balance. He knew it was just another ship attaching itself to the ship he was currently on. The exit opened and he saw that a passage had already been attacked, oxygen flowing through freely.

The Gordanians must have been on a serious schedule for them to be this prepared.

Then... something wet hit his face. Right between his eyes. Before he could even try to comprehend what was happening, something wet hit the other side of his face, right below his ear. And the succession of spit began. He should have been used to being spit at. All the times a guard would spit at him when he was in his cell. All the transfers he had done. But somehow, he couldn't get over the disgusting act of being spat at. If he even had the _nerve _to spit back at one Gordanians.

But no, he knew it would do him no good. He'd just end up feeling bad about it in the end. So he moved a little faster, his head down and suddenly hating the path the Gordanians had formed.

In plain Tameranian, as if the Gordanian had been talking it his whole life, 'Troq' was uttered from somewhere behind him. Ryan pretended to ignore the comment, but the spitting slowed down as the Gordanians decided that instead of the spitting, they were going to chant Troq instead.

Ryan growled deeply. The spitting was nasty, no doubt, but it wasn't hurting him. It would only last a few short seconds. But calling him a Troq? His dignity, no matter how garnished, was all he had to his name. He was _not _okay with people treating it like it meant nothing.

His eyes glowed, like they did most often the few times he actually allowed himself to feel that furry, but like electricity, his body was shocked and he felt his powers drain further. Whatever was holding his wrists together was much more than a mere bond. It contained a lot of power, too. He tasted blood in his mouth, as he bit it to keep from screaming. Screaming would only fuel them, and at the moment, he just wanted them to shut up and leave him alone.

The tirade and chants stopped when he reached the transparent walkway that connected the two ships. This was his first good look at space in a long time, and he longed to be on the outside of the clear wall. He wanted nothing more than to fly away. Find his real home. See his real people. People who looked like him. People who adored and _cared _for him.

The sharp something poked him in the back again and he walked the short distance to the other ship. This was it. His first look at his new owners. His first taste of his new life for probably a very long time.

But on the other side of the ship, he was met with another Gordanian. He froze, completely confused at why a Gordanian would be on that ship too, but an obvious guard sealed off the doors and he was led down a hallway and pushed into a cell that looked just like his old one.

This, he hadn't been expecting. If anything, he expected that Lex Luther guy to retrieve him. Maybe, was still in the process of being transferred. Maybe someone was waiting far away for him. But he had never been transferred twice in one day before. Did that mean something good or bad?

Really, he didn't care. He was binded up pretty good and covered in the green ooze that was Gordanian spit. But he hardly cared, the only thing he wanted, besides a good bath, was to sleep. He was so exhausted from those short minutes of transfer, that he could hardly believe it. He laid on the cot, the only position he could manage being on his side.

His body spasmed painfully again, the last of the drug probably working its way out of his system, but even that didn't bother him. Instead, he closed his eyes, and didn't wake till morning.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

* * *

><p>AN: Well I said there was no fluff, didn't I.

Anyway, its okay to pout for Ryan. I did, and I wrote it. It was meant to pull at a few heart strings. Not much of his personality is in this chapter, we'll explore a little more in the next one.

A little further in the investigation, right? Dickies getting there. He's finding some things out.

Anyway, I promised I'd add some fluff next chapter and I'm sticking with it. But any ideas or things you'd like to see for certain, I'll take. No guarantees, but a half a promise.

Next chapter: Adeline Kane, Barbara rage, And the worst thing yet... dinner.


	18. Love Me, Love Me

He ya guys.

Next chappy here.

Little /thingy: Who here hates it when they read a mystery story and the protagonist just gets handed the answers to all his problems? Well, I know I do. When I read, I like to feel like I'm solving something _with _the protagonist. I like to say _oooohhh _the same time the main character says _ooohhh. _

So that's just what im trying to do.

I want you guys to say _ooohhh _when Dick and the team are saying _ooohhh._ You should feel part of the mystery too, okay? Let me know if you get confused about anything.

Answers: Okay, RobStar11, you've been a devoted reviewer and I would just feel horrible if I didn't answer your question. Yes, in this story line Kory was also experimented on. I think I may have mentioned that in a very early chapter, but I'm too lazy to check. So hope this helps with your understanding, k?

And with that out of the way... make way for a new chapter!

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

Something was very wrong.

He had that gut feeling that always said when something bad was about to happen.

Dick wasn't sure why, since judging by the dim light in the room, it was still early. Checking his bedside clock, he could see that it was about 4:30 in the morning. He judged the feeling as just a bad dream he had forgotten and hoped out of bed.

He showered and dressed quickly, ready to start his day. Adeline Kane was first on his list for the day. According to Raven, she lived a few states over, in a town he had never heard of. He'd either need to get Raven to send him in a black Raven (something he was not too fond of doing) or he'd need to 'borrow' a jumbo jet from Bruce for a few hours.

He packed a backpack with his uniform in it, his mask in suite in it, just in case, and stuffed some random clothes over top of it. He was never really sure when he would need it, and it wasn't like he could pull a Clark and just rip his outer-clothes off. No, his clothes were too expensive to rip, not to mention the fact that most of them were Nick's anyway, although the idea fascinated him.

He stopped, a few doors down, and casually went into Kory's room. He had been pretty positive that she would be in the bed. Even if she woke up that day, it was much too early for her usual strolls and sun bathing. And yet, he went into an empty room. Her dress was folded up neatly on her dresser and the bed had been tightly made. Something Alfred would appreciate. He nearly felt bad for leaving his room a mess, but he had been so anxious to leave.

But now, he had to find Kory.

He hoisted his bag back on his shoulders and headed down to the kitchen. He was hungry and no doubt that meant she was hungry too. He was getting used to the whole 'connected' thing, but the powers were a bit more of a nuisance than he expected. They required more energy just to keep them at bay, than he was actually using.

He felt a little nervous, suddenly. Kory was up. She was awake. What if she remembered her forced outburst? Or worse, what if she remembered him trying to make her _forget _her forced outburst. She would hate him. Hate him forever. And much worse. He would hate himself forever. He already felt guilty and lousy for doing it in the first place, but he figured it was for the better. She didn't need to be burdened with his idiocy when she was already under so much stress.

Or at least, that was what he told himself.

Going down the hall, he could hear her in the kitchen. Small bustling sounds and movements. Walking into the kitchen, she nearly ran into him.

She froze, staring at him, clearly startled. But he was thankful that she didn't scream like he would normally expect her to do. She had on the same jeans he had brought for her, but clearly, Alfred must have washed and pressed them for her. She also had on a purple sweater with tons of sequins on it. It just screamed 'Chris' all over and he figured the man must have given it to her.

"Greetings!" she said, none-to quiet, and pulled him into a hug, like she did every morning.

He put one of his arms around her, his usual side hug.

But _un_usually, she didn't let go. Her arms, still around his neck from her hug, were suddenly resting on his shoulders. She leaned heavily into his chest. Dick was slow to realize that his left hand was sprawled on her hip, but in a hug, that really didn't matter, right? Or at least, that was what he had thought.

Standing in the dark, empty kitchen, the usual time it took for a hug to happen was long over. Dick looked down at her, realizing every movement and eye blink she blinked. He could feel her eyes, boring holes through his own eyes. It was still so weird to know she could see his eyes. It made every look she gave him that much more close.

He could feel all her weight pressed against him and her hands made their way from his shoulders down to his chest. His mind was going numb, the sheer closeness of her throwing him into a daze. Or maybe it was her hands. They weren't moving, or even twitching like his fingers were. But the feel of her hands on his chest instantly sent him into a world of calm. It didn't matter that she just woke up from a coma. It didn't matter that he was scum for making her forget an entire night of her life. It didn't matter how odd this intimate moment began. All that mattered was her. Her smell. Her sight.

His breathing suddenly became deeper as she slowly rose closer towards his face. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her. Nothing at all. And it seemed as if it would happen, too. His head involuntarily began to meet her halfway. Their noses were slowly beginning to touch, and rub against each other. They were so close that he could feel her minty breath on his lips. His spine was tingling and he felt like if he were to do anything rash that he would drop her. They were _so_ close. He parted his lips, completely surrendering and subjecting all morals and rights to her. But right as their lips were about to touch she pulled away.

So sudden was it, that he wobbled forwards, her weight being gone.

"I trust you slept well." she said, as if nothing else had happened and she had done something completely normal.

He didn't answer for a moment. He was still trying to catch his breath. Totally confused. Totally dumbfounded. She acted as if _nothing, _nothing at all, had just happened, preferring to continue searching the cabinets. Didn't she know what she did to him? Didn't she know how cruel that was, to build him up so high, have him a mere hair away from something he wanted so badly, only to tear him down? Pull away and act as if the act meant nothing to her?

If he had just been impulsive. If he had just acted, closing the gap that had been between them, he might of still been kissing her.

"As well as I ever do," he said finally, looking around at all the open cabinets, "Hungry?"

She shook her head sheepishly, "I am looking for candy."

He raised an eyebrow at her. Maybe, she was just hypoglycemic? Acting rash like she had may have just been spurred on by hunger. She _hadn't _eaten in a while. But somehow, nearly kissing him didn't seem like an outcome of hypoglycemia.

"Why? It's not even 5 in the morning yet." he said.

"I am drowsy," she shrugged, "Not tired, but also not fully awake."

"Sounds like you need coffee," he said, already moving to make himself some.

"No," she said, shaking her head strongly, "I do not even like the smell of that stuff."

"You should try it," he teased, but she only shook her head again.

"Okay," he said, "Then try some of mine. That way you can see if you like it before you get a cup."

She nodded, albeit unsure, and hopped up on the counter.

He put the coffee maker on, but stayed near it. Bruce's coffee maker was the fastest he had ever seen or used. Being both Batman and Bruce Wayne, he was always in a hurry. And... he liked his coffee. Being in a hurry and needing coffee all added up to needing the fastest coffee maker in the world.

The coffee maker did a little jingle, signaling to end of its making, and Dick quickly made himself a cup.

"Doesn't it smell good," he asked Kory, taking a dramatic whiff of his cup. "Super strong."

She pinched her nose, her face already scrunched up.

He added his usual 1 cream to 2 sugars ratio, and slid the cup over to Kory.

"Just try it," he said, seeing her smell the coffee much longer than was necessary. "You might even, dare I say it, like it."

Seeming to just give in to herself, she took a quick sip, choking on the bitterness.

"It _is _strong." she agree, her face scrunched up cunningly. "Perhaps more sugar and cream."

He shrugged. He had made enough for two cups and added a good amount of sugar and cream to her coffee. She always did like things sweet. He watched, extremely fascinated, as she took a sip of her improved coffee. She took another two or three minutes just sipping at it, looking up and thinking, tapping her chin, smelling, and sipping again at it.

"I like it." She settled on finally, "Oddly enough, it has a pleasing taste."

He wondered briefly if he had somehow changed her taste-buds. They _were _connected, but could he affect her that much?

The thought about being connected brought another problem to his mind. If she were awake, than Bruce and his 'parents' could detect her now, right? They could find her. When she had been in her coma, she had been off the radar. Was she in danger now, being awake. But then again, they could find him too.

"Why do you carry a pack?" she asked, drawing him from his mind. "Are you going away?"

He realized, that he did still have his pack on. He was such an idiot. He should have left it out of her sight. If her was going to keep her safe, he couldn't have her flying around the world with him looking for different people.

"Oh," he said, busying himself by making his own cup of coffee, "No, I'm not going anywhere."

"Then why do you have that pack?" she asked, and the way she said it, he knew he couldn't lie to her.

"I guess I better catch you up, huh?" he asked, and she only sipped at her coffee.

"To the batcave, then?" she asked.

"How do you know about the batcave?"

She seemed startled by the question, as if the answer was just something she had always known. Like how do you know your name? Or what planet do you live on. Or are you a boy or girl. It was just common knowledge to her.

"I do not know." she settled on, and for the moment, he would take that answer, because he knew exactly how she felt.

He opened the clock, leading the way down the stairs. Bats flew over his and her head, and he looked back, seeing her more curious about them than frightened by them. They reached the bottom, and though he hadn't expected her to go crazy over the cave like Beast Boy and Cyborg did, he was a bit underwhelmed at the lack of excitement she showed. It was like she went down to the cave everyday and had grown accustomed to it.

Stopping at the computer, he turned it on, the numerous passwords flying from his hands without him even thinking about. Kory settled on the arm of his chair, completely content with sipping at her coffee.

"Okay," he said, pulling up a picture of Adeline, "This is the ex-wife of the son _of _whoever is giving out the orders to Bruce and my parents. Her ex-husband, Slade Wilson- who I do have a hunch is the Slade we know-" he said, cutting her off before she could ask. "Had a house for her a few states over."

"And you wish to question her." Kory concluded. "But why? How much information can she give us?"

"Well for starters, she can help confirm whether or not this is the Slade we know or not. She may also have information on him that we don't."

Kory nodded, studying the picture.

"Elsewhere," Dick said, "We figured out who our mysterious army is."

"Tameranian kids." she said, and when he looked at her oddly, she just shrugged.

"Oook," he said, pulling up some bank accounts, "Did you know Lex Luther and Bruce Wayne just spent about 30 millions dollars investing in some kid from outer space."

Kory choked, "No, I did not know that. Do we know who?"

Dick shook his head, "This is just from an overheard conversation. We don't know much, but they're getting the kid from some Gordanians. Ever heard of a General Sewred?"

"No," she said, thinking, "There are many different generals. I don't remember many of their names."

"Well, we know the Gordanians will be back, though. They traded the kid for money, and Luther only gave up half."

"Yes," she agreed, "They are a greedy race. They will surely be back."

"Besides that," he said, thinking, "Well, yesterday, Nick and I went to visit a well-known scientist. He's a criminal, but he's the master of chips and mind control. I heard Bruce and Luther talking about it back at the party."

She groaned at the mention of a party, and Dick knew that she had a completely blank slate when it came to that. At the moment, he really didn't want to fill in any lies for gaps for her, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway, I'm borrowing a jumbo jet and I'm going to head out to see Adeline. I want to get as much done in little time as I can, so-"

"I _am _coming with you." she said, completely believing that.

Dick just chuckled, "Kory, no you not."

"Why not," she asked, one brow raised, "This is my fight as much as it is yours. I wish to know what goes on as well."

"Kory, I'm going on an undercover mission."

"And you should have a female with you. How comfortable would Adeline be answering a young man on personal questions. She would probably feel more at ease if a female was with you."

As much as that made sense, he couldn't let her out of the house. She was on lock down. The manor, as of the moment, was the safest place for her. With Slade out there and who knows how many more goons, he'd be able to focus and work better knowing she was here safe.

"I know what you thinking," she said, the hand without the coffee going to her hip, "I am capable of taking care of myself."

_Busted. _

But he knew she wouldn't take kindly to him locking her away. She just wasn't one to sit and let things happen. She was like him in the sense that she preferred to save herself than allow others to come to her rescue.

As much as he wasn't keen on letting her out of the house, he didn't have much grounds to keep her there. His only true reason was to keep her safe, and he knew she would just counter that with saying she could take care of herself. They could go circles forever.

"Fine." he said, giving in, "But we stay together the whole time."

"It is the deal." she said, pleased with herself. "We should tell our friends immediately and depart."

Dick huffed. He was actually planning on just leaving. Telling people involved time, and he didn't want to waste any of it. Nick would know how to get in touch with him and he _had _asked for Adeline's address in front of everyone, surely they knew that meant something.

But Kory was already pulling him towards the stairs and dragging him up. He didn't really have a choice in this matter.

They stopped in the kitchen to leave their empty coffee cups, but Dick was a bit surprised to find Rachel was there, sitting on the counter, legs crossed, as she waited for her water to boil.

"Glorious morning, friend." Kory said, walking around the counter to look Rachel in her face.

Rachel just nodded in acknowledgment, but Kory beamed nonetheless.

"I shall tell our friends," Kory said, skipping out of the kitchen and heading down the hallway.

"Well she's happy," Rachel said, when Kory was out of earshot, "She seem fine?"

"Yeah," Dick said slowly, "Why?"

"No reason. Just, side effects are common with that kind of stuff."

"Why wouldn't you tell me that?" he exclaimed.

If he knew he might have changed her for good, he wouldn't have taken the risk. He'd rather deal with her remembering that cruel night rather than gambling with her life. The thought made him feel sick.

"Relax," Rachel said, "I sensed nothing off about her. Shes fine... but a bit hyper."

"Coffee." he explained, "But I have a question."

She raised an eyebrow and he knew to continue.

"Back at the party, I overheard my parents talking about psychic tracking or something. I know you can find people mentally and all of that, but is there anyway to block that?"

Rachel's eyes began to glow white.

"Done." she said, jumping off the counter to fix her tea.

"And Kory?"

"If I block you," she stated, "Then I block her as well. Now, I didn't put a permanent block on you, I just want you to get used to the feeling. It should last for today, unless you lose control and mind blast something or something like that."

"So, we're safe for today?"

"I don't know about safe, but your hidden from any psychic tracking."

With her tea made, Rachel went back to sitting cross-legged and closed her eyes, probably about to do an early morning meditation session. Dick figured that now was a good time to leave her alone.

"Kory and I are going on a trip," he said, seeing her nod, and went off to look for Kory.

He was estimating the trip, with airtime included, would take, roughly, 6 or 7 hours. The trip there was about an hour, and the trip back was an hour. So that left about 5 hours to talk to Adeline. That is, assuming she lived where records showed and that she was even still alive.

He was on his way up the stairs, instincts telling him where Kory was, when what he could only described as mind splitting tore apart in his head. He slipped down a few steps, the perpendicularly amount of pain throwing out his balance and strength. After a few seconds, the headache went away, but what had happened was far from normal. He doubled his pace, Kory set in his mind.

Turning a corner, he ran straight into her, both of them flying back from the force. She didn't waste any time, though. He couldn't even get out 'are you alright' before she pulled him up and pushed him down the hall.

"Whats going on?" he asked, spinning out her way and stopping.

She was out of breath and silently pointed down the hall to Tim's room. Not quite thinking, he reached out to her, his unconscious intent still set on making sure she was okay, but she shook her head at him and pointed back to Tim's room. Even in the dark hallway, he could see she was crying, borderline hysterical.

And that scared him.

He wasn't moving nearly as fast as he should have now that he knew something was wrong. But with Kory hysterical, he was afraid of what he might see. He had just seen Tim that night. Sneaking up on Cyborg and hacking into the titans private frequency. How could one night, just a few hours, change things to the point where Kory was speechless? Kory. Was. Never. Speechless.

Known fact.

He stopped at the door, casting a look back to Kory. She was wringing her hands, wiping at her face and bouncing on her toes.

"Kory," he whispered, but she gasped, and jumped into him, scared all the same. "Maybe you should wait out here."

She looked at him, and he knew she _wanted _to object, but when he opened Tim's door, she didn't follow him inside. Closing the door behind himself, his entire body twitched, that gut feeling that always said when something bad was about to happen was back. And stronger. Was this what had woken him that morning? Was Tim's problem what had woken him up and made him feel like that? He cursed to himself.

He was such an idiot. When would he start listening to himself? These instincts, no matter how new and weird feeling, were helpful. If he would just listen to them, he might be able to get a few pages up on some people.

He took a deep breath, having taking a moment to calm his emotions. The room was still dark, the sun having barely made an appearance. Flicking on the light switch, the room was suddenly flooded in bright light. He probably shouldn't have been so surprised at the neatness. Clearly, Alfred hadn't even _needed _to come in to clean. The shelves had neatly stacked books on it. The desk and laptop were dusted to perfection. Even the bed that Tim was obviously sleeping in, looked neat and made up.

Dick heard a groan come from the bed and sighed a sigh of relief, knowing it was Tim. At least Tim wasn't dead.

Courage renewed, he stopped beating around the bush and quickly went over to Tim, throwing the blankets off the boy. And instantly, he wished he wouldn't have been so sure about things being alright. Because Tim _definitely _wasn't alright.

Color was one of the things the body used to create first impressions. If it was blue, the mind brought up images and memories of blue. If it was pink, the same things would happen. Even before the mind confirmed or even put together what the image was, color was confirmed. And at the moment, red was the only color Dick's eyes translated.

He internally scolded himself. It wasn't his first time seeing red. Seeing blood. But he couldn't remember the last time he saw so much.

Tim was laying face down, curled up in a ball. But he was soaking wet, and so was the bed and blanket. Dick hoped, hoped with all his life, that the water was reason most of the bed was drenched in blood. With osmosis and diffusion, that wasn't too far-fetched. But there was _so _much.

Dick didn't want to really touch Tim, unsure of his injuries. If he had a first aid kit, he could at least try to clean him up. But Dick didn't want to leave the boy for a second. He was extremely pale and he looked entirely too small and frail, curled up.

Dick shook Tim, his intent on getting the boy up. But even when Dick was shaking the boy as hard as he could, Tim wouldn't wake up. Checking the regular signs, Dick found that Tim's pulse was entirely too weak and that his breathing was shallow. For Tim's heart to be that slow and weak, it would mean he lost a lot of blood. And though that was pretty clear, feeling it, with his own two hands, was a lot more real that just inferring it.

Their was a knock on the door, and though Dick knew it was Kory, he was pretty sure she wouldn't want to see Tim like this anyway. He cracked open the door, not wanting her to see anything, but it turns out he didn't need to. Her eyes were clenched tight, but she held a first aid kit out in her hands.

He was really starting to love connections.

Going back to the bed, he was able to clean up Tim's skin. A lot of it was covered in bruises and minor scratches, but a few of them were still bleeding heavily. He worked as fast as he could, peeling away the dried up bloody pieces of clothes and replacing Tim in a cleaner outfit. Dick put the appropriate ointment and medicine on the bruises and scratches, and put gauze on the bigger and heavily bleeding scratches.

Turning around, he wasn't nearly as surprised to see Rachel there as he knew he should have.

"Kory." she said, plainly, being shoving him aside to try to heal Tim.

Tim was on the floor, Dick not wanting to put him back on the bed, but while Rachel was healing him, Dick stripped the bed of the blankets and sheets and put it in the corner, where Alfred would see they needed to be washed. Though Tim was still pale and the numerous bandages that now adorned his face and body was a pretty ghastly sight, he wasn't bloody.

Opening the door, he let Kory in. She had since gotten herself a little more together, but he knew she wasn't totally over the sight she must have seen. He could only imagine her walking, all merry-like, intent on shaking a slumbering Tim awake to tell him she was leaving. The sight she must have seen was probably what caused that painful headache he had gotten.

"He is alright?" she whispered, probably trying not to disturb Rachel.

"He'll be fine," he whispered back, moving aside to let her in. "Still out, but he should be fine."

"Stop whispering." Rachel said aloud. "Its move of an annoyance than anything."

"Sorry," Dick said, walking over, seeing Rachel finished. "He's healed?"

"Not entirely," she said, standing up and dusting the imaginary dirt from her pants. "His injuries aren't few, but only a few of them are serious. What you saw was mostly scratches and bruises. His arms especially."

"Why his arms?" Kory asked, wondering out loud, but Dick already knew the answer.

"From blocking." he explained, "Blocking whatever attacked him."

"Any internal bleeding would be stopped now," Rachel continued, "And the minor scratches are all but gone. A few of the deeper ones still need tending too, but I've slowed the bleeding."

Kory hugged Rachel, gratitude all through her face. Dick felt the unnerving feeling like her. He couldn't believe how attached he had gotten to the boy. He hadn't even known Tim that long, but already, he was watching the boys back, careful to make sure he stayed safe. He had thrown Barbara to the side, just to save him. He had a mild panic attack just thinking about him hurt.

"Alright, Kory," Rachel sighed, "No problem. I do this all the time. Besides, you two should go. Last night, Garfield said he had something planned for tonight and he needed us all back here at 6."

"Something like what?" Kory asked, hands clasped and face curious.

Rachel just shrugged, giving Kory her answer.

"I will grab my bag," Kory said, already heading out.

Dick was right behind her, stopping briefly to give Rachel an awkward side hug, then headed down to the kitchen to wait for Kory. He had already planned and arranged the small jet to take them to their destination. He knew the pilot pretty well, and knew the man could keep a secret. Not that he was worried about Bruce caring. It was just that someone, someone higher than Bruce, was keeping tabs on him and anyone who knew he was taking a secret jet trip knew that was sneaky business.

"Ready." Kory said, a black pack on her back.

Dick nodded, opening the front door and headed out. The airport was a good half hour away, but with it still being so early, the streets were near empty, minus all the workers who had to leave early for work.

He opened the garage, choosing one of several motorcycles to take. With Kory on behind him, they were off.

* * *

><p>Ryan was suddenly drenched in cold water.<p>

He woke up, gasping, sputtering, and completely confused.

He spun around, only succeeding in throwing himself off of his cot. The loud, hideous sound of Gordanian laughter filled the hallways and immediately, he wished he hadn't acted so startled. It only gave them more things to laugh about and probably encouraged them to do it again. See, he had to treat them like children. If a child does something bad, but you encourage it, it only makes the child want to do it again. But if the child does something bad, and nothing entertaining happens, they probably wont do it again.

Gordanians were easy. They were simple. And they were stupid.

Had he not of figured that out a long time ago, he may have gone mad living with them. He probably would have rather died escaping then living with their constant tormenting. But alas, he was too smart for that. He wouldn't try escaping unless he had a well thought out plan.

There was _one _benefit to being splashed with icy cold water in the morning, though. At least now, he didn't need to sneak out and shower. And after that horrible spit shower he had gotten, fresh water was welcome. Although now, without a comb, his hair would curl up into loose spirals.

Besides, with a new cell and new ship, he wasn't sure how he would even get out.

"Good morning, troq." a Gordanian said, leaning against his cells bars, "I trust you slept well."

It was a sarcastic question, but Ryan smiled and nodded anyway. It was polite... and, he knew it irked the Gordanian. They were just too easy to anger.

"There will be a change of plans in your routine," the lizard said, his teeth grit in annoyance at Ryan, "This morning you will be clothed in a new uniform. You will be groomed and led to the prisoner quarters on the other side of the ship. You will be fed and left there until your trading takes place."

With that, the Gordanian was gone.

Yes, a new routine indeed. A new uniform? He had had the same one for a little over 3 years. Long blue pants, a long-sleeved navy shirt, and white flats that felt more like slippers. It was a simple outfit, but it was comfortable. At least he didn't have to wear a loin cloth or some kind of itchy fur. No, he was fine with the cotton clothes. And what did he mean by groomed. Like some kind of animal? Or did they mean he could now use shampoo without having to steal some? And food? Was it real food, or those slobbery crumbs that the Rotnas left on their plate?

He didn't have long to find out. Within the minutes, two guards with their langdebeves and halberds pointed at him, escorted him out his cell and led him down the halls. He wasn't familiar with this ship, but the layout seemed similar.

Suddenly, he was pushed into a room, barely able to keep his balance without his hands. His wristbands were removed, and he was led to a single table.

"Do not think about escaping," one of the guards said, "The walls are made of the same thing your wristbands are. You try anything and the walls will kill you without a moments notice. You suit is here, put it on and wait for us to return."

They were gone before he could even ask a question.

Killing wall, though? That was a new one. But at least he got to experience a few minutes without his bands. It was the first time he had gone without any type of machine that could render him useless withing seconds.

Obeying his orders, he striped down his familiar clothes and took a good look at his new outfit. There was a good chance that he would be wearing it for a long time.

While his previous outfit had been a shirt and pants, his new outfit was all one suit. It was pitch black, no ounce of skin besides his head would be showing. He knew that would look weird with his red hair and orange skin, but pure, pitch black was certainly a change.

It was only after he put it on that he realized that it had shoes and soles in them. He wondered briefly if his new master would have him working outside. Technically, he had never been outside before. Pulling at the tight fabric around his neck, he wondered if his new home would be cold. Or maybe, his suit was insulated with cold air and his new home would be very hot. He would rather be in a hot environment than a cold one. He hated the cold.

He was tossed to the floor suddenly, the ship having lurched violently to the side.

Picking his head up from the floor, Ryan stared dumbfoundedly at the door. No ships he had been on had ever staggered in any direction. Where they avoiding some hit? Was it a meteor shower? He wished the simple, white room he was in had windows. Something like that was worth seeing.

Without warning, he was thrown again to the floor, the ship leaning far to the side. But this time, the ship stayed tilted and he slid across the floor, hitting the wall rather hard. He crawled to the side quickly, the table his clothes had been on sliding on its way to crush him.

The lights abruptly flickered off, before switching back on. Ryan wouldn't say he was freaking out, but he was certainly scared. He almost wished one of the guards would come back, just so he wasn't alone. Either the ship was under attack or someone was creating a mutiny against the captain. What if the ship blew up? What if a rogue guard ran in and just started shooting and slashing at him?

The lights went out again, this time, not flickering back on. Ryan hoped the whole ship wasn't out of power. Space was bad enough _with _power. It was dangerous and floating dead in it wasn't a good thing.

But a thought struck him. The walls, they could kill him, yes. But... without any power...

He was taking a risk, trying his powers. But sitting in a dark room waiting for inevitable destruction wasn't on his to-do list. With his eyes closed, he allowed energy to flow to it and allowed it to light.

He felt no pain. No shocks. He didn't even spasm like the sedative drugs made him do. He was free... well, sort of. But at least now, he could use his powers to escape... that is, unless the power came back on.

He didn't want to wait around to find out. He needed to get out of that room. With a well placed kick to the door, it flew off its hinges, most of it shattering into oblivion.

He was strong!

Oh, that was a good feeling. Unrestrained strength, it may just be his favorite ability.

He ran out the room and into a dark hallway. Looking down one way, a random light was on while down the other, two flickering lights cast eerie shadows. Both ways seemed equally ominous, but Ryan chose to go down where the flickering lights were. He didn't want to be captured again. And therefore, he didn't want to be seen.

The ship jolted, as if it were hit with something, sending Ryan flailing back. He didn't fall though. Instead, he caught himself, upside down, with flight. He had always known he could fly, though. Sometimes, when he was charged with energy at his most (which was right before his energy drain) he could make himself happy enough to float. But now, knowing he wouldn't be shocked for expelling too much energy, flight came much more easily.

Opting instead to fly down the hallways, he found that flight was much faster than running. He kept to dark hallways, simply looking for a window he could break. He knew he could. With his strength, he wasn't even that afraid of running into a guard.

Kind of like right then. Only, this particular guard who was actually a captain he knew, was fond of guns. He could have as much strength as he wanted, but against a gun, it would mean nothing. The captain, Sewred, sneered. A long, green liquid was oozing down the side of his face and Ryan knew it was his blood. Gordanians bled green ooze, something totally grossing to Ryan.

"If this ship dies," the captain spat, "So will all the members on it."

Ryan could hear the rounds of fire being opened, but they were muted. As if behind glass. From the sound, he had recoiled back, instinctively sinking to the ground and covering his head. When the rounds of fire stopped, Ryan cracked open his eyes. His hands, which were glowing a brilliant blue, where facing where the captain was, palms forward. He felt the energy flowing through his hands, and that was the only way he could explain the blue shield that sat protectively in front of him.

He was afraid to put the shield down, knowing Sewred might just have been waiting for just that.

"Boy," Sewred cried at the shield, "Your death is inevitable! Your powers will only delay your pain. You were born a slave, and you shall die a slave. You are, and will always be, a useless troq!"

Maybe it was being called a troq. Maybe his defiance in everything that Sewred had said had finally reached its limit. Maybe all his years of torture had finally pushed him over the edge. But as naturally as if he had practiced it, he pushed at his shield, already feeling heat radiating off of it. He could a hear startled cried come from the other side of the shield, but he didn't care. With his own cry, he threw as much energy as he could into the shield and pushed with everything in him.

Heat pushed in both directions, stinging Ryan's face, but he was hardly effected. That kind of heat hardly effected him. He was surprised, though, to see that he suit was completely unharmed. Maybe it was fire-proof.

Confident that Sewred had abandoned trying to kill Ryan, he dropped his shield.

Sewred was laying face-down, clearly having been trying to run. Even from where Ryan stood, he knew he had burnt Sewred to a crisp. The lizards flesh was still burning and the smell was enough to make Ryan puke. It was still smoking and even in the dim lights, he knew that every internal organ that had once been in Sewred was now an external organ.

He was surprised to find himself crying. Maybe it was the emotional strain. Or maybe the thought of killing was too much to handle, but one thing he knew for sure, he _couldn't _pass Sewred's body. He'd either pass out of vomit right on the spot.

So he backtracked, flying as fast as he could back down the way he had come. He couldn't believe he couldn't find a window on the entire ship. Not even one.

He passed what he assumed was the control room. He could hear yells and screams of terror even from down the hall. One of the guards was on a computer, sending numerous SOS signals to seemingly any frequency he could find.

Passing right by, he half smirked, half frowned. He wanted to think that this situation served them right. Think about how their whole species treated him like crap. But he couldn't help but feel bad for them. They were on a distressed ship, heading to their own inevitable doom. What kind of person would he be if he didn't feel bad for them. Yes, they treated him horribly, but they fed him. Gave him something akin to a bathroom. He got water and a place to sleep. Wasn't that worth something?

He made a pact with himself, if he came across help during his escape to a new home, he'd direct them to the Gordanians. Yes, that was good enough.

Finally. Finally. Finally. He found it. A window! It wasn't a very big window, but he could squeeze. He could see, flying up to see out, space. Wide open space. His next adventure. He was free. He was out. He was going...

Honestly, he hadn't paid that _too _much attention. He just kind of planned to fly until he found a good enough place to stay. But thinking that exactly, it didn't sound like a good idea. Just flying until he ran into something? Who did that? That wasn't even a little educated.

The hallway he was in was empty, but looking down it to his right, he saw the captains quarters. Where Sewred would normally be. He could tell it was the captains quarters because of the double doors. That room was the only kind with double doors on it.

Would Sewred have some kind of profile on him? Ryan wondered, someone had to keep tabs on him. Have some kind of proof that he was royalty. If Ryan could think of one place that would have even a morsel of information on him, it would be the captains quarters.

Well, Sewred was dead, so it wasn't like he could stop Ryan. Casting a look back down the hall, he flew into the room, burning the handle and lock behind himself. Lighting his hand with that ball of blue fire felt so natural that he almost forgot it was the first time he had ever tried that. But he shook his head. More important things to worry about. A large ceiling window was above the entire room, Ryan would just use that to escape.

The room was large, maps, chairs and all kinds of weapons lay around in disarray. The thought of grabbing a weapon was tempting, but Ryan settled on not really needing one. He'd just end up poking his eye out. He had no idea how to use any, anyway.

The ship lurched again, and everything in the room seemed to jump before clattering to the floor. Ryan wasn't sure how much longer the ship would hold out. Though he knew it wasted time, curiosity won out and he flew up to the window, looking out. He could see at least a dozen bigger ships, some shooting at the same ship he was on.

Ryan knew it, they had been under attack. But looking, the ships seemed to be leaving, most of them already moving out of sight. Though that was weird, that the ships would attack without any obvious reason, Ryan decided that it didn't matter. He was on a search of self discovery.

Ripping the locked cabinets right out of the desks, Ryan shuffled through papers and papers of receipts and official looking documents. He was on his third desk that he found his own receipt and proof of ownership certificate. How sick was that? He wasn't an animal.

But he shook his head. The whole cabinet was full of information on him. Pictures from when he was younger. Documents on his abilities (those he burned). He stopped his rapid shuffling and reading when he came across a picture of two little girls, probably no older than 6 or 8. One had black hair and the other had red. They all shared unmistakable resemblances. The girl with the red hair especially. The red hair. Orange skin. Green eyes.

He wasn't alone after all!

Another picture was behind it, this time showing the girl with red hair, clearly older. Probably in her teens. 'Koriand'r' was scribbled on the bottom, STARFIRE written in all caps in parenthesis below it. She was an And'r! He was too, maybe they were related. On the back, a small, hand scribbled map to a planet called 'Earth' was written messily. Ryan knew exactly where the map began too, though where 'Earth' was he didn't know. It wasn't much to go by, and he didn't even know if the Starfire girl was nice or even related, but it was better than just flying around aimlessly.

He burned the rest of the files that so much as mentioned his name. Flying up when the ship lurched again, the last of the ships probably shooting just because. Pretty soon, the Gordanians would remember him and probably find Sewred and link the two. Yeah, it was time to go.

Tucking the photo of the girl in his suit, he lit his hand blue and threw the energy at the glass above him. He ducked his head, arms above his head as the glass began to fall, but was suddenly sucked out the window along with all the furniture in the room. He had forgotten about equilibrium and vacuüm spaces. Of course, everything would be sucked out.

He struggled to catch his breath for a moment. He knew he didn't need air to survive, but the sudden change had sucked the breath from him a little too quickly for him adjust. But he attuned himself quickly, taking his first real looks at freedom. So far, it was pitch dark. But that was only because he was on the first leg of his journey. This was only the beginning. He'd find his way. It could only get brighter from there.

Something hit him in the back.

Ryan's entire body seemed to go on defenses, his hands and eyes lit, ready for a fight. But he dropped them, seeing that it was only a rock. He pushed the small thing away, trying to get his bearings and direction straight. He knew it would be hard because down could very well be right and left could very well be up. He really had no way of knowing. But suddenly, that didn't seem so important.

He looked at where the rock had come from and saw that that was only one of the millions that were headed his way. It was an oncoming meteor shower. Hadn't he predicted that, too?

No matter, he found that he was so fast getting out of the showers way would be no problem, but something bugged him. He couldn't help but look back at the Gordanian ship. It had lost power completely. They had no way of moving out of the rocks way. They'd be hit and crushed downright.

He bit his nails. That entire race meant no more to him than the rock he had just pushed away, but they were still alive. Still living organisms. They were Rotnas, yes, but it wasn't his place to choose when they ought to have died. He'd live a sad life if he knew he hadn't done all he could to save a life.

He huffed in annoyance at himself. Sometimes, even _he _thought he was too nice.

He couldn't power the ship himself, but he could move the ship out the way and towards the nearby sun. That way, they could charge their solar panels.

He flew beneath the ship. It was his first time ever seeing the outside of the ship and especially now, it looked big and daunting. He had no idea if his strength could move something so big. But he had to try. Mustering up all of his strength, he dug his fingers into the bottom of the ship and flew up and pushed with all his might.

For a moment, nothing happened but the fact that he was loosing energy. But after a few seconds, the bulky ship budged and slowly began moving up. But something burst, and Ryan knew a rock had smashed out a window. The meteor shower had begun and he wasn't even halfway out of the way. With a grunt, he pushed harder, the tips of his fingers beginning to glow blue just from the sheer amount of force he was pushing into the ship.

He hadn't pushed for more than ten minutes, but he had to stop, exhausted. Any energy he had once had was gone now. But the ship continued to float away. He had pushed it hard enough to exploit it out-of-the-way.

He just sat for a moment, watching as the ship floated away to safety. His greatest enemies where safe. Should he have scolded himself or congratulated himself, he wasn't sure. But he _did _know he needed to rest before he began his journey to find the And'r girl. To find Starfire.

Finding a sizable, slow-moving meteor rock that mainly was engulfed in sun, Ryan flew to it. It had dozens of nooks and crannies, and Ryan chose one to crawl in. He was still in the sun, where he could recharge, but he was hidden from clear view. The perfect place for a recharging nap.

* * *

><p>Dick slowed down to a stop.<p>

It was late morning and he had arrived at Bruce's private airport. Dick could already see Captain Micheal's plane, started and ready for departure. It was a small plane, actually being Bruce's private jet, but Dick was sure wacky Bruce wouldn't even notice.

He stopped his bike in the parking lot, away from the landing strip, and half turned to where he was sure Kory was sleeping. She nearly always fell asleep on his motorcycle when there wasn't any danger. Motorcycles just did that to people.

"Hey," he whispered to her, "Wake up. We're here."

She popped up, as if he had stricken her, and looked around herself.

"The airport." he clarified for her, receiving a head nod.

He lent his hand, helping her off the bike and together, they made their way to the jet. She had never been on a jet, and really, Dick was glad he was the first to take her on one. Leading her up the stairs, his cell phone rang. He picked it up, recognizing Cyborg's number.

"Yeah, Vic?"

"Hey, Dick. I got some... weird news."

"Alright. Go on."

"So earlier, I was just updating my systems. Deleting junk and stuff, when my system automatically picked up a distress signal."

Dick was sitting in the lone chair against the wall, now, buckling his seat belt. It was a single plane buckle with two straps running from the top where his shoulders were and ran down to in between his legs. There was hardly any room between where he was sitting and where Kory was sitting. Obviously, the chairs were made so that their legs would intertwine. Her leg would go first since her seat was about a millimeter more to the left than his was. His leg came next, then her leg and his leg last.

"From who?"

"You'll never guess," Victor said, "It was from a Gordanian ship. From a captain Sewred's ship. Ring any bells?"

Dick immediately made the connection.

"You think the kid they got is okay?" he asked, after a minute.

"I don't know, man. They sounded pretty frantic. And for them to send a signal this far out? I don't know."

"Well, put Rachel on it. See if she can find him. And you see if you can trace the signal. The least we can do is try."

"Alright, Vic out."

Dick leaned back, the jet rushing forwards and taking off. There was something about the jet that made him uncomfortable. Probably the fact that he hadn't been on one in a while.

Like always, he made sure that in the event of something happening, he and especially Kory could get out. He saw right where Kory was sitting was a parachute. Just one. Of course, under normal circumstances she would obviously just fly to wherever she needed, but with the pilot there, that wouldn't be possible. But if anything _were _to happen at least Kory and the pilot would be safe.

He smiled, looking to Kory who was fruitlessly trying to buckle her seat belt. She had seemed almost besides herself when she saw that these weren't ordinary seat belts.

"Richard," she said, frustrated, "Could you, perhaps, do the lending of the hand."

"Sure," he responded, smiling.

Unbuckling his seat belt, he bent forward towards her. He could feel her watching him as he pulled the straps over her shoulder and clicked them together where they met. He paused for a moment before buckling the seat belt between her legs, unsuccessfully hiding a blush.

The plane lurched forwards and Dick could feel the plane hit an air pocket. They ended up bumping heads, in the movement, and both of them rubbed their heads.

"Just an air pocket," he reassured her, "Happens all the time. We're good."

But at the moment, she didn't seem concerned. Instead, she stared at him, a smirk on her face. Dick tried to recoil, but he found himself frozen stiff. He remembered that face. It was the same one she had had on her face earlier in the kitchen. It was that aphrodisiac look that just captured every ounce of attention he could give.

Though her seat belt held her back, he reveled in the freedom he had without his own seat belt. He was determined this time. If she wanted to play this cat and mouse game, he'd play it too. She needed to learn. She couldn't just take his emotions, what little he showed, and drag them all over the place. If she was going to make that face and get close to him, she _better _be ready to kiss him. That was just the way things worked.

The little difference between their versions of her game?He _always _won.

He shoved his fingers in her hair, dictated not to let her move away this time. He was getting his kiss, whether she liked it or not. It was her fault from the start anyway. She didn't resist when he pulled her forwards, but she turned her head away from him, giggling. She was _mocking _him.

This was fun to her. All a game. He leaned around her so that they were face to face again, and pulled her in. But she just turned to the other side. He moved to the other side, but made sure he held her hair a little tighter.

"Why are you playing?" he whispered at her, but she made a motion like she was zipping up her lips.

When he leaned in again, she kissed his cheek and laughed.

He sighed, letting go of her hair and sitting back. The moment was ruined anyway. Whatever reason she deemed it necessary to mock his emotions with, it was getting on his nerves. Twice that day, she had almost kissed him. And it wasn't even 10 o'clock yet.

She stared at him, from her seat. An innocent smile on her face. She looked totally oblivious to the fact that he may have been on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

The jet hit another air pocket and Dick bumped his head on the window behind him. He was so startled, that he forgot to be pissed. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had been on a plane or jet, but he didn't think they ever hit that many air pockets. Looking out his window, dark clouds were in the distance and he hoped they weren't heading towards them. He could see from his window that they were pretty high up, and the jet seemed to be flying fine, but when they hit yet another air pocket, he decided he'd check with Captain Micheal.

"Where are you going?" Kory asked, watching as he unbuckled his seat belt.

She sounded so uneasy that he had to pause and look up at her.

"Everything's fine," he reassured her, "I'm just checking on the pilot."

"Then I'm coming, too," she said, fumbling with her sat belt.

She didn't seem frantic, but something in him detected the nervousness she had. She was afraid of the jet. He had known she would have been a little nervous for her first time, but for someone who could fly? He had figured that this would just be a new experience for her. She had them all the time.

He took her hands from its frantic mission to undo her, and set them in her lap.

"Kory." he said, but she wouldn't look at him. "Kory, look at me."

She gave a small shake of her head. Dick sighed, moving a piece of hair from her face. It wasn't until he lifted her chin that she actually looked up.

"Your going to be fine."

The plane jerked again, and she had his hands in hers faster than he could figure out what had happened. She was holding his hands so tight that her own hands were turning white, but she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were clenched shut and she looked like she was forcing herself to breathe.

"It's just turbulence,"

"Are you sure?" she asked, and honestly, he wasn't.

Planes wasn't his thing. And neither was trains. He was more of a motorcycle guy. But thinking back, maybe knowing about those different means of transportation might be able to come in handy.

Suddenly, the plane took a nose-dive forwards, and Dick automatically reached out and grabbed the straps of her seat belt. If Dick hadn't been holding on to the straps, he would have gone sliding down to the pilots cabin. Kory was gripping his shoulders as if _she _would fall away.

"What is happening?" Kory half asked, half screamed, her eyes closed, and hands shaking.

Dick looked behind her and out her window. He could see clouds flying further above them and he knew that somewhere below them, a treeline was getting closer.

"Um... we're falling."

Even as he told her this, he didn't believe it himself. What were the chances? He looked over to her, she was so much paler than he was used to.

"I have to check the pilot." he told her, and instantly, her grip on his shoulders got tighter.

She shook her head madly at him, as if he had just threatened to jump out the jet itself. But neither of them had a choice. There were countless things that could have happened to the pilot. He could have had a stroke. He could have been dead. Or maybe suicidal. Whatever the reason, he wanted to know if the jet had any chance of _not _crashing.

"Kory," he said, easing his own grip off of her seat belt straps, "You have to let me go."

"He's dead." she said, shaking her head at him.

"I have to check."

"I'm not letting you go," she whispered, and he knew she meant it.

He knew she was scared, but he really didn't want react to her with too much emotion. It would only scare her more. If he kept his mind focused on his task, he might calm her down too. But looking at her pale face, he knew he couldn't just disappear on her. He couldn't just make her let him go. Things could always take a turn for the worse and apparently, that was what she was afraid of.

He found his balance, the soles of his sneakers finding friction, and supported his weight as best as he could. He couldn't just leave her. Not with her mind full of death.

He took, as Beast Boy put it, 'A flap of faith'. The joke had something to do with a 'Robin' 'flapping' it's 'wings' or something. Dick never really got it. But, he settled on it being good enough and he quickly stuffed his hands in her hair and pulled her face to his, kissing her before she could register what it was he was doing.

He wondered, briefly, if 'fireworks' was too cheery of a word for the situation. But even then, that one expressive word couldn't sum up how her lips felt against his. She didn't resist him, like she had done back on the balcony. She didn't turn away, like she had done just minutes before. Instead, she wrapped her shaky arms around his neck and just let him take over.

And while he tilted his head, pressing further into her and deepening the darkly beautiful kiss, he went no further than that. He wouldn't open his mouth, or even hers for that matter. He wouldn't even let the moan that threatened him come out, out. And how he wanted to moan to her. To show her just how much he was enjoying himself. How great she made him feel. But even his hands, the one tightly coiled in her hair, and the other stroking her teary face was too much. The situation just wasn't perfect enough for it, though the kiss begged other wise. He wanted her _real _first kiss to be romantic. In candle light. In the moon. He wanted her happy, not hysterical. He just wanted it to be perfect. Right now, wasn't the time for that. He was kissing her for comfort.

He wasn't kissing her goodbye. He _wasn't._

He knew she was distracted because _he _was distracted. The fact that they were falling out of the sky was something that he just remembered, and the information struck him like a slap in the face. But even knowing, he couldn't force himself away from her. He couldn't _make _himself pull away. But images of her hurt and broken gave him strength.

He was doing this for her.

Knowing that if he thought too much about it, it would never happen, he slid his hand from her hair and eased her arms from around his neck. With every fiber in him, he forced himself to pull away from her. He didn't give her a chance to grab him and he lifted his feet up and slid down the aisle of the jet, letting her pale skin, blushing cheeks, and adorably swollen lips pass by without much thought.

He stopped suddenly, though, hitting his back pretty hard right besides the door that led to the cabin. He didn't have time to take any breaks, so as best as he could, he stood up.

He was seconds from reaching over to open the cabin door when it flew right from its frame, fire following it out like a tail. It sounded like a rocket being launched, and he ducked back instinctively. Heat poured out from the cabin and he looked in to see the entire room was on fire. The pressure must have built up in the room and eventually, it had blown the door clean out of its frame. He was glad he hadn't been in front of it. The door was solid steel.

Well, Kory had been right. The pilot was dead, that much was clear.

"Okay," he called up to her, "We need-"

But he stopped. The jet was filling up with smoke from the inflaming pilots cabin, but even through that, he could see she was limp.

"Kory!" he called, but she didn't answer.

His heart sped up faster and he just prayed that the door hadn't flown up and hit her in the head. He hoped that she had just passed out or that the heat had suddenly gotten to her. Something simple. And easy to fix. She had to be okay.

He created a shaky shield, his concentration near shot and replaced with worry, and created another one just above it, repeating that action and using them to climb back up towards her. If they were falling at a steady speed, he knew he didn't have much time now, and if his simple shield was that shaky and weak, he knew that it wouldn't be much help either.

The shield he was standing on dropped a few feet, and with sheer determination was he able to keep himself from falling down to where the cabins fire was spreading. One hand he down, keeping his shield at bay and hopefully, up, and with the other hand, he reached up, trying to unbuckle her seat belt. Her head was bleeding heavily and he knew instantly, that she hadn't had time to protect herself against the door that had flown up.

Something creaked and groaned above him, and he looked up to see that the big, steel, door had somehow wedged itself sideways against the narrow part of the back of the jet when it had shot up. But with the rising heat and angle the plane was falling at, it was unwedging itself and sliding down, millimeter by millimeter.

He cursed. He had to get Kory out _now_. His shield dropped more, with his lack of immersion and he was suddenly too far to reach Kory. The door gave a loud groan, and Dick was near ready to scream. He had fire below him, a giant door above him, ready to fall, the plane could hit the ground at any moment and he couldn't concentrate hard enough to get the shield up to Kory.

An idea struck him, and he concentrated hard on making another shield with his other hand. The lock that was keeping Kory buckled in glowed a bright white and shook rapidly. Dick was just trying to break the lock. If he couldn't reach it to undo it, he'd make it explode open from the inside.

Sweat was dripping into his eyes from being so close to the fire and he knew he was running out of time. Something squealed and he looked up just in time to see the door budge fully and come hurtling down towards him. At the same time, all of his concentration was lost and he dropped from his shield.

And then everything went black.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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><p>AN: Whoa, right? Okay, big things here. Ryan's freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Yes, right? Not _too _much further in the investigation, but something is totally up with Kory, huh? A LITTLE FLUFF! Gee Wiz, I finally got some. Kissing is fluff, right? Well, you guys almost got it at least twice and you _did _get it once. How many times where you on the edge of you seat going 'kiss her. come on, kiss her' before you slammed back frustrated when it didn't happen.

I know, I'm evil!

A lot of this chapter, if not all, was from Dick's POV. You shall see why next chapter. So we have plane crashes and fire and kisses and a few injuries. Speaking of injuries, TIMMY! I know that scene hurt a lot of you, but I promise I know what I'm doing. Promise.

Ok, besides the fact that my fingers hurt. Nothing else to report.

**But... **if you want a magical surprise... you should totally press that magic button that says **_Submit Review_** down at the bottom of this page.I promise, using that button has done wonders for me. I mean it, it makes your hair grow and you run faster. You live longer and all kinds of amazing things happen. Just press that button and submit a comment and something magical may just happen to you, too!

Lol, stay posted my friends, stay posted.

_ScarletDrake


	19. Side Effects

!Bienvenedos! I think that's how you spell it.

Anyway, long time no read and I apologize for that. So many stories out that I cant keep up, but as you can see, im trying _really _hard, okay.

I wont hold this from you any longer, as always, ignore errors to the best of your ability. I'll fix them later. I just wanted to get this out to you.

(Read comment at bottom of chapter)

So, enjoy!

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><p>oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

Dick's eyes snapped open.

For a fleeting moment, all he saw was white, and he wondered if he had died, although the cause was a bit fuzzy for him. Slowly, he turned his head to the side, but the movement changed his balance and his entire body spun in a 360 turn. He realized quickly that he was off the ground-wherever it was- and he was seemingly in vacuüm space. Zero gravity. Spinning upside down, he found that he actually could determine the direction he spun, thus coming to the conclusion that he was not in a vacuüm, but flying... in his own shield.

When realization set in, his bubble of a shield dropped, and he fell out of it and onto his back. He flopped into wet grass, the heavy rain that was falling quickly soaking him.

He couldn't be sure how long he was out, but his sore body didn't even have the energy to sit up. Instead, he took a moment to look around his surroundings and gather his bearings.

He must have been deep in some woods because the sheer amount of trees around him was almost overwhelming. It was dark, but he couldn't tell if it was morning or night because any sky he could see through tree canopies was cloudy. Dead leaves and dying grass was below him, not enough to be comfortable, but it was a step above dirt.

His memory coming back, he remembered the plane. How it had crashed and he had blacked out. But despite all of that, he didn't seem to be in any clearing caused by the crashing plane. In fact, as far as he could see, he couldn't see the plane at all. Not even a seat or piece of metal.

He shivered a bit, the air cold and rain not helping. He wondered how his shield had stayed up, even though he hadn't been conscious. It had probably stopped his fall from the plane all together. But... if he was safe... then... what about...

"Kory!" he yelled, gathering hidden strength and flying into an upright position.

The motion disoriented him, but he didn't care. Instead, on shaky legs and arms, he tried to stand up, grunting when he fell back down to his back. He had a headache, but he felt no major wounds or burns. He was far better off then Kory had been. He... he hadn't been able to take her seat belt off. He hadn't reached her before the crash. He had let her down. The very thing he had promised wouldn't happen, happened. He had told her. Warned her. He didn't want her to come. People were after them, but she hadn't listened.

It was his fault to begin with though. He had been careless that morning, walking around with his bag early in the morning. He knew he couldn't keep her from coming, they were alike that way, but he never should have left her side. Never should have gone to check the pilot. She knew he had been dead, same as Dick, but he was too stubborn to let it pass. He had to go the extra mile to check and see for himself. And by leaving her side, he had let her get hurt. It was his fault.

There was _something _he could have done. If he had been better at shields he would have been able to reach her. Been able to pop the seat belt. Protect the plane for all he cared. But he had let her down and laying there in the grass, he swore to himself that he would find her and make things right. He promised himself, yet again, that he would protect her. He _couldn't _let anything happen to her.

He loved her.

Which brought back the kiss they had shared. As amazing as it had been, it had cost them time and she paid the price for that. He had let his emotions get in the way. He had put her emotional needs... and his own... above her physical needs, and that was always a problem. He hadn't protected her. This was all his fault.

Turning on his side, he created a shield above himself, sheltering him from the rain. He couldn't get hypothermia out here. He needed to get up and get moving. Get his blood flowing and get some heat back into his body. He was freezing.

Army crawling to a tree, he was able to use it to help himself stand up. His legs still shook, but he knew he just needed to get moving. Wrapping his arms away from himself, he picked a random direction and began his trek.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

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><p>oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

He was actually uncomfortable. Having so much unrestrained power was a bit overwhelming. The sun may have done its job a little _too _well.

Ryan stood from his napping rock, surveying the land... space. It was big. Dark. And vast. He had virtually no idea where to go. But the picture tucked in his suit gave him strength. Koriand'r was out She was out there somewhere and she was somehow connected to him. He'd find her. Someday, he'd find her.

But, he knew first thing was first. He needed to find his direction. Almost immediately, he spotted the Boötes Dwarf, a small galaxy. From the galaxy's sun and stars, he knew he could determine his cardinal directions. He smiled, things falling into place. He'd find his way, he knew so.

Full of energy, he traveled at lightning speed towards galaxy. He weaved around the stars, trying to get close enough to the sun so that the constellation and stars made sense. Finding himself fairly close, he tried to slow and stop, but he found that his speed must have been far too fast. Even in vacuüm space, he felt momentum carry him far further than he had wanted. He threw up a blue shield in front of him, bumping the star he couldn't avoid away.

Slowing down, he watched as the blue star skidded away, its due course a bigger, brighter star. But he was safe, unless the collision ended up triggering a supernova explosion because of a core collapse. Anyway, the most likely outcome would include a jump in stellar mass, which means an enormous jump in luminosity. Which would probably kill him. But despite all of that, the stars would probably just combine.

He didn't waste much time coming to the conclusion that he wouldn't take any chances. He turned around, finding the familiar constellations and pulling the picture out and looking at the map. He chanced a glance towards the collision set stars, seeing he didn't have much time. The map said north was the way to 'Earth' and looking at the stars, he found the direction easily.

Leaving a blue trial behind, he flew as fast as he could north. He was flying fast but not very much time had passed when a force pushed him forwards. Random ripples of force and power propelled him forwards and he didn't need to look back to know a supernova explosion had happened. Honestly, he was glad no one had lived in that galaxy.

He shook his head. He had just _destroyed _an entire galaxy. By accident! He would have to keep his powers and speed under control. He wasn't used to having so much freedom. Coming upon another nearby galaxy, he slowed down considerably, legeritly avoiding rocks and stars in his way. He was careful though, to keep his direction. He knew many galaxy's and stars systems, but this was space. It had more galaxies and stars than he could ever remember. Getting lost was much too easy. He had to take his time and really think about things.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

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><p>oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

Hours had gone by and it was noticeably getting darker.

Dick had already tried his cell phone a million times. The stupid thing was cracked and frozen. In the end, he just removed his memory card and tossed the dead phone away. It was useless.

As night fell, it got colder and the rain showed no signs of letting up. Dick found himself surveying trees, where he would probably be sleeping that night. He needed a high one, far from the ground, and something well sheltered from the rain. But he wasn't ready to stop looking yet. He'd search for her until he couldn't see anymore, and even then, he'd still call out her name like he had been doing. His throat went dry just thinking about screaming her name again, but he did it anyway. He'd scream until he physically couldn't do it anymore for her.

Suddenly, the smell of oil caught his nose and he quickened his step. Oil or jet fuel, it was all the same to him. Coming over a hill, the wreckage of Bruce's jumbo jet was consuming. It wasn't Bruce's inevitable reaction to the plane that concerned him, it was the fact that he couldn't tell what was the front or back of the plane that concerned him. The entire wreckage was mass. The plane, didn't even look like a plane. It looked like a field of metal. Nothing was recognizable.

Adrenaline pumping, he slid down the side of the slick hill and ran to the destroyed plane. Nothing was still warm, the rain probably cooled if off, but that also meant he had been out for a while. He prayed Kory was alright and that she might of even been out looking for him. But he knew the chances were slim. If she were awake, he was sure he would have known that, but at the moment, he felt nothing from her. He hoped that just meant she was unconscious.

Tiredly lifting pieces of metal and material, he looked everywhere for her. He called her name and ripped metal that was wedged deep in the ground, glad she hadn't been caught under anything. It was nearly pitch dark when he finally allowed himself to get to the conclusion that she wasn't there.

For a moment, he was giddily happy that she wasn't there, but the thought that he hadn't been anywhere near the plane dampened that. He had been probably miles from the wreck, thrown or flown by something. What if she had gotten further? Or worse, what if she was right behind him, or beside him. Waiting for him to find her. What if he gave up, and left her without looking back? Or what if the plane had been sabotaged and Slade had her? Or Gunner?

He calmed himself. Getting himself riled up would do nothing to help him. She wasn't here and that was both a good and bad thing, but he couldn't look for her in the dark and he knew sleeping on the ground was a bad idea. If he had the strength and the light, he might have built a shelter and fire from the plane wreckage, but not only would the rain put out his fire, but the dark and his lack of strength advised other wise.

Going to the closest tree, he began to climb. He was much too tired to get to the stop, so he settled on the general tree line as his max height. The leaves provided inadequate shelter, but the he didn't mind so much. The cold rain helped soothe his achy muscles.

He turned on his side, the branch he was laying on happening to be thick and strong, but he sat up quickly looking out in the distance. In the dark it was that much more noticeable. It was a small house, alight with all of its lights on and smoke coming out of a chimney. If Kory was up and alive, she would definitely go towards that house.

Common sense told him that he's just go to the house in the morning, that his body was much to tired to climb down the tree and go for another hike, but thinking about Kory dulled that sense down to a mere whisper. He _was _tired, but he knew that with concentration, he could make a shield fly there.

Making the shield was a lot easier than he imagined it to be, but what took more effort was forcing himself on it. After the plane fiasco, trusting only his powers took a lot more force than it should have. But like always, the thought of Kory helped move him along.

He flew just over the trees so that he could still see the house, but he made sure he was at a safe distance from the ground, just in case he fell. Oddly enough, he made good time, reaching the edge of the clearing the house was in just a few minutes. And what he saw shocked him.

A family it seemed, typically clad with an apparent mother, father, and two sisters, stood on the small house's porch. Dick was cloaked in the darkness, much like the houses surroundings, but the houses bright interior and porch light lit the deck and porch. The father and mother were crouched down, leaning over the knocked out girl, the red-headed, orange skinned, knocked out girl that lay on the porch.

They were all talking about something, but from where Dick was, he couldn't hear. Common sense told Dick that the family was probably really nice and meant neither him nor her any harm and that he could probably just go over, but something inside of him objected. He was on the verge of ignoring that instinct, but experience told him that probably wasn't a good idea. He had ignored the instincts before and look where it had gotten him.

He walked a bit around the clearing, trying to get a better listen and a little more of a look on the family. He was on the far side of the house and still couldn't hear a thing. Deciding on a sneaky approach, he tried to approach the house on the back side of the house. But the moment his foot stepped into the clearing, he entire body spasmed uncontrollably as shocks of electricity shot through him. The shocks rendered him useless, but something in him took over and power slipped from his hands.

The ground he was standing on had turned blue from the sheer amount of electricity let out on him, but his powers fluctuated them and white force overpowered it, making the pure air around him crackle with white and blue electricity. In a flash of white explosion, his powers had exploded, protecting him, and the electricity ceased.

He fell forwards, the shocks taking his already weak state and taking what little energy he had, and yet he never hit the ground. Instead, he floated just off the ground, face mere inches from the dirt. He could feel energy still leaking from his hands and cut the flow with nothing more than a thought. The moment he did that, he dropped to the ground, face first.

He felt beyond light-headed and he knew he would be out in a few seconds. But with sheer will power, he forced himself to sit up. He thanked the dark for his cover, the family was now looking his way, probably drawn towards the light show. He was surprised he hadn't screamed.

He swayed terribly, forcing himself to stand up. He had his mission and if the family just happened to be lunatics who skinned people, he would make sure he was there to protect Kory. They _did _live in the middle of nowhere.

Using the dark for cover, he was able to get right beside the house without being noticed. The short awning above the porch was as good a place to hide as any, so without a thought or sound, he jumped and climbed up.

He took a few moments above the family to catch his breath, the little climb having taken much of his energy. When he felt a bit more refreshed, he army climbed to the edge of the awning and peeked over.

And it was confirmed, that was definitely Kory down there, but Dick wondered when she had gotten there. He hoped she hadn't run into any trouble on her way, he knew how curious she could be. She must have been scared to death, waking up alone like she had. She had also had a head injury, which might have explained why she was knocked out like she was, although she may have just been exhausted.

He ducked back quickly, the older girl having looked up.

"Dad," she said, "I think somethings on our roof."

"Just a bird, honey," he assured her, but peeking over again, Dick knew she wasn't convinced.

Deciding that now was a better time to introduce himself than later, he flipped over the awning, adding a few spins just for the heck of it, and landed in front of the family. Though his landing was fine, he felt the strain of his body and cursed himself for showing off. He didn't have to energy to walk, let alone flip.

The girls screamed, much like their mother, but the father looked both perplexed and interested.

"Told you," the older girl squeaked, hiding behind her mother.

Dick didn't allow his guard to go down, but he managed a meager smile. His plan was to figure out the family as quickly as possible and go from there. He'd explain the crash and if they all seemed stand off-ish or even a little suspicious, he'd get himself and Kory out of there. But if they seemed genuinely friendly and invited him and her to stay the night, he'd allow them to crash and continue on their way the next day.

The man came over, his hand outstretched in a friendly gesture, and a broad smile on his face. Dick couldn't help but hesitate to reach back out to the man. His brain told him it was just a friendly gesture, but his senses told him to hold back. Shaking his head at the confusion, he reached out.

"Gave us quite a scare, you did. I'm Tom." the man smiled, shaking Dick's hand graciously. "Were you a passenger on that plane?"

"Erm... yeah," Dick agreed, "You saw the crash?"

"Kind of hard to miss," the younger girl piped up from the porch, "It was awesome... and right in our backyard!"

"Besides," the older sister added, "You couldn't be from around here, anyway. We live in the middle of nowhere."

"How many people were on your plane?" the mother asked, coming down the stairs to stand next to her husband. "Are they all dead?"

"Our pilots dead," Dick explained, "But Kory and I were the only passengers."

Dick made a point to look Kory's way, and Tom seemed to take the hint, stepping aside to allow Dick pass. Dick didn't waste any time scooping Kory up, he didn't particularly like her laying on the ground. Especially after his little 'shock performance'.

"Lets get them inside, Marina," the Tom said to his wife, "I'm sure their tired from the stress."

The woman, Marina, led him inside and showed him a spare room he could lay Kory down in. Alerts went off in his head as he laid her down on the bed. He didn't want to leave her alone, but he knew he couldn't just crash without getting a proper scope of the place either.

"Mom fixed you a snack."

Dick turned around, seeing the older girl standing at the door. If he had to guess, he'd probably say they were around the same age, she may have been a bit older. She had jet black hair cut in a short bob and a loose shirt with sweat pants on. Dick figured her height, which was inches below his own, was what made him think of her as younger.

"It's in the kitchen," she continued.

Dick gave her a smile and followed her out the room, quietly cracking the door behind him. It was a long hallway he had gone down and he knew he had spotted the kitchen right outside of it.

"I'm Chelsea, by the way" she said, blocking the hall, "But you can call me Chel, like my friends... or whatever you want."

Dick could recognize that tone anywhere and he just set his mind on trying to get down to that kitchen. He knew Chelsea was flirting with him, but a) he already had a girl that he was in love with, b) she was right in the room behind them, and c) he_ would _of told her to just lay off, but he was much too tired. So ignoring her was his option of choice at the moment.

"Whats your name, stranger?" she asked, moving and successfully blocking his way in the hallway.

"Dick," he said, moving to the side in an attempt to go around her.

"Does that have any significance or relation to anything?"

She snaked her arms around his neck, purposely pushing her legs into his. In a quick movement though, he had de-snaked her arms and spun her behind him, leaving the hallway in front of him wide open.

While she stood confused for a moment, he made his getaway down the hall and just nearly sprinted to the kitchen, where some cookies and milk sat on the counter. It wasn't his ideal choice for a snack, but it was food and he hadn't realized how hungry he was. Taking a seat, he heard shuffling foot steps come behind him and he just hoped it wasn't Chelsea.

But the steps went around him and the little girl hoped up into a chair in front of him. The last member.

For a long time, the girl just watched Dick clear the plate and down the milk. And even when Dick stood and rinsed the plate in the sink and sat back down, the girl was still staring.

"I'm Emily," she finally said after a moment.

"Richard," Dick settled on since his nickname was getting grief already.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked, sounding extremely formal for looking only about 6 years old.

"Sure."

Without a word, she hoped out her seat and ran out of the room. Dick looked after her, a bit confused. She came back in a few seconds, a pair of shorts tucked under her arm, but when she spread them out on the table, Dick could clearly see that they were actually boxers. Her fathers, boxers.

"Whats the flap for?" she asked, completely innocently, "And why don't girls have them in their panties?"

Dick bit his lip. He was much too tired for this.

"Don't- touch that." he said, when she began fidgeting with the buttons.

"Why?" she asked as if she were only doing it because of him. "Whats it for?"

"Its..." he started, but decided that this wasn't even his problem. "Why don't you ask you mom."

"Okay." she said, hoping down.

"Hey Emily?" he asked, stopping her trek, "Is there a phone I can borrow? I need to call home."

She seemed to snap out of a daze and smiled, running out of the room. Dick just hoped she was going to get a phone.

Left alone, he scanned his eyes around the room. It was a small kitchen, simply clad with a stove, oven, sink, and fridge. A small round table was by the only window, four chairs set neatly around it. It was much too simple for Dick's taste, and really, it looked completely cliché-like. With the apple wallpaper and the off-white tile floors, it looked much to... simplex... to actually house people.

"Heard you were looking for a phone?" came a flirty voice Dick was really starting to hate.

He turned in his chair towards Chelsea's voice, seeing a pink cell phone in her hand.

"Don't worry about Emily," she said, "she doesn't take kindly to strangers. Her mind's... simply complex."

"I see," he said, trying to sound bored and tired, "Well, thanks for the phone."

He reached for it, not at all surprised when she snatched it out of his reach.

"There's a price, Dick." she said, and he just hated the way she said his name, "One call for one kiss."

"Never-mind," Dick said, standing up to leave, "I'll just ask Emily again, or I'll find your mom."

"No!" Chelsea said, blocking his path again, "I mean, why would you want to bother them, when I'm right here?"

"Listen Chelsea, today has been a bit stressful, okay? I don't feel like playing games with anyone."

"Who says I'm playing?"

Without even looking, he snatched her hand, which had suddenly reached for his knee, away. While he had her that close, he snatched the phone from her too. It was mean and a bit sneaky, but he was serious when he had said the day had been stressful.

"Again," he said, making his way back to the room Marina had loaned, "Thanks for the phone."

She was steaming, and he left her that way. She wasn't his concern. All he really wanted to do was shower and crash, but since he had no clothes to put on and no idea where a bathroom was, he would just have to settle on crashing.

He opened the bedroom door, jumping back a little when Emily walk out the room and by him, but not without glaring first. Dick could just stare after the kid. He wasn't sure _what _the heck was wrong with Emily, especially since the girl had seemed completely normal and happy when they were in the kitchen, but he wasn't comfortable with having her alone with Kory.

Going into the room, Dick locked to door behind him and flipped open the pink cell phone. They had signals out here, right?

Dialing his brothers cell phone by heart, he could hear Nick's voice almost immediately.

"Where are you?"he inquired, and just by his voice, Dick knew his brother had worried.

"Nice to talk to you too. But its a long story."

"Do you have the battery life?"

Dick knew it was a sarcastic question, but he checked anyway, seeing the phone fully charged.

"Okay, long story short, the plane crashed."

"And your _just_ calling?"

"I was out for a while, okay. But Kory and I are fine. We're staying at some locals place."

"No hotels around?"

"Nick, there is _nothing _around here. Just barren trees and dirt."

"I've tried you cell phone a million times, but I guess it's broke."

"Completely useless. Where are you guys? Did you check back on Jervis, yet?"

"Dick... we're in the hospital."

There was silence for a moment, Dick processing that for a moment.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean," Nick answered, "We are in the hospital."

"What for?"

"Tim had a class 4 hemorrhage."

"You mean, from blood loss?"

"Yeah, I went in to check on him after Rachel told me he was hurt. He was up when I went in so I asked him how he felt and he didn't even know who I was. He was near unresponsive when I called the hospital."

"But, he's stable now, right?"

"I don't know. The last I checked he was vomiting blood. It was pretty bad."

Dick laid back on the bed and ran his free hand over his face. He should have known Tim was in trouble. He was in bad shape when Dick had found him. He had just hoped Rachel could heal him enough and went on his way. Too focused to even think twice about it.

He was _the _worst brother alive.

"It's not you fault," Nick said, as if reading his mind. "He didn't look as bad as I thought, too. He was just really pale."

"I shouldn't have left him."

"You had a mission to complete. You can't be everywhere at once. Anyway, I went back on Jervis."

"Please tell me he was up and told you the whole master plan."

"No."

"Did he tell you who attacked him?"

"No he-"

"He at least told you the person who got the microchips right?"

"No, Dick he-"

"Where they even his?"

"Dick! Listen, Jervis didn't tell me any of that. He didn't even wake up. Jervis is dead."

Another long silence.

"Jervis?" Dick asked, "As in, Jervis Tech. The Mad Hatter, is dead?"

"Announced this morning. Police found poison in his blood."

"What kind?"

"The results aren't in yet, but you know what this means right? Someone poisoned Jervis, so someone had to _break in, _give Jervis the poison and then _break out,_ without being seen."

"Which means it was someone good."

"That or security has too many lunch breaks. I think-"

Suddenly the line went silent and Dick listened closely to what may have muted his brother. There was a rustle sound coming through before Rachel spoke into the phone.

"Dick? You still here?"

"Yeah Rachel, I'm here."

"Wheres Kory?"

Dick cautiously looked towards Kory, who was still out cold.

"She's here."

"Is she... alright?"  
>"Yes... why? What wrong?"<p>

"A few things Dick."  
>"Give me the worst news then."<p>

"Alright, remember how yesterday morning I told you about those possible side effects?"

It took Dick a few seconds to respond. He was amazed that he had been out for an entire day.

"Yeah, I remember. You specifically told me that Kory was completely fine."

"I think I may have jinxed myself. After some meditation, I picked up on her aura and she's not as she should be."

When Dick didn't have a problem, it meant one was coming. He couldn't get a moment's peace to save his life. Something was wrong with Tim. Something was wrong with Kory. Jervis was dead. While this wasn't their fault, Dick was seriously having a problem with fate at the moment.

"Whats the problem?"

"Something went wrong when I erased that memory. I think I may have temporarily taken away more than that. Has she been acting kind of weird?"

"Rachel this is Kory. Something weird always happens."  
>"I mean weirder than usual."<p>

"Not really. She's pretty normal. I really have no idea what you're talking about."

"While normal is good and means she's fixing the problem subconsciously herself, I still feel as if something is off. And _I _trust my instincts."

Dick was thinking hard. Kory hadn't really been acting that strange, that he could remember.

"So what I figure happened," Rachel said, "Is that something clearly went wrong with the memory thing. I think she may have been out that long because her mind knew she wasn't right. These powers, sometimes act out on their own. They protect us without our knowing and sometimes try to fix mental errors."

All Dick could think about was getting shocked earlier that night. How his powers had just slipped away on its own and countered the shocks, even short circuiting the system. It _had _protected him.

"Shes clearly fixing herself," Rachel continued, "Filling in any memory gaps and such, but keep in mind, the two of you are connected. A little memory lapse isn't going disconnect you."

"So what does that mean for me?" Dick asked.

"Nothing. Its her who is changing, not you. But right now, she probably still has a few blank spots. But _you,_ being connected to her, can fill in some of her blanks. Anything you know about her is probably being used to help restore her memory."

"That sounds fine. Whats the problem with that?"

"The problem, Dick, is that sometimes memories can seem to take on the shape and appearance of other things. Her mind may mistake likes and dislikes with memories. It may think that because you hate pickles, she likes pickles. Or because you can do 3 back-flips in a row, she can do 3 back-flips in a row. Or even more common, emotions."

Even the word 'emotions' made Dick quiver. Emotions and feelings just weren't up his alley.

"Because you have so many bordered up emotions," Rachel added, "I wouldn't be surprised if some of your emotions effected her for a time."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if your feeling... say, lustful, she may take that feeling and... well... interpret it as her own."

The phone dropped from Dick's hand to the floor. He cast a look towards Kory. Lustful? That seemed to ring a bell. That morning they had almost kissed in the kitchen. On the plane. All of that teasing. It was, as it always was, his fault. His raging emotions turned into her raging emotions. She was just acting out how he felt.

"How long until she's better?" he asked, seriously, gathering the fallen phone from the floor.

"Like I said, she seems to be fixing herself. So I say, give or take, another day or so."

This was his fault. All his fault. It always was his fault. He couldn't do anything right if there were clear instructions in front of him.

"But I also want to tell you about the mystery boy from space," Rachel said, seeming to sense his feelings, "I couldn't find his exact position, but I got a pretty good reading on him. His name is Ryand'r. Young, around Tim's age id say. He isn't, par-say, afraid or in any danger, but he has something heavy on his mind. I think he may be lost."

"Keep tabs on him, and do your best to get his exact location. If he comes into reach, I want to go out and get him. And- wait, did you say Ryand'r?"

"Yeah..."

That name. Dick was sure he had heard it somewhere before. It was right at the tip of his brain. He knew it from somewhere.

"Alright, Rachel, thanks for the update."  
>"No problem. You sound tired. You ought to get some rest."<p>

"I will. Hug Tim for me."

"Not gonna happen. But I'll tell him you were think about him if I get the chance."

"Thanks Rae."

"Bye."

With that, Dick hung up the phone and laid back. Setting the phone on the table beside him, he looked to Kory. She was hurt... again. And again... it was because of him. When would he stop hurting her? When would he finally do something right?

It wasn't right the way he effected her. The way he changed her. To him, it didn't seem like he changed at all. If a connection was a mutual thing, why was _she _the only one being changed? And he _did _notice to the way her speaking had changed. The others may not have noticed, but he noticed how more fluent her words were. Though she didn't use slang, she certainly sounded more normal. He was effecting her vocabulary too.

What else could he possibly change? He didn't want her to change in the first place. He fell in love with _her._ Not someone who was an extended version of himself. She was getting more serious. She was more reserved. Her speech was different. She was thinking different. He just couldn't seem to keep his personality out of her. And it was killing him.

With that on his mind, he wondered off into a troubled sleep.

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><p>oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

He had finally found it. Finally made it to a point of reference, according to the map. Currently, he was in the middle of four suns, all of them rotating around a much larger sun. It was hot and he knew he was gaining a lot of power, too fast, just by being so close, but he wasn't planning on staying. He just needed to find his directions.

Heading to the east of the third sun like the map said, he flew that direction, leaving a blue streak behind him.

He had been wondering around for hours, having gotten himself lost. Being lost in space was a creepy thing. Everything just floated in a void. Their was no up or down. No left or right. He very well may have been flying upside, but would have never known it. But after a while, the bright suns had caught his attention and he had gotten himself back on track.

Now, he'd pay more attention to his blue streak of energy. It was the only thing that could help him keep direction. He watched it carefully, making sure he was going straight, and avoided a meteor.

"You'll be fine," he told himself, "Your just about there."

He had taken to talking to himself. Being alone was hard. Though he had been alone all his life, he had never _really _been alone. He saw creatures everyday. They weren't nice creatures, and really they hardly spoke to him, but at least he knew they were there.

He passed an odd planet with rings around it. It was a beautiful shade of orange and browns, but the rings really caught his attention. Saturn, he recalled from his astronomy books, was a Jovian planet with superior gravity skills. It kept even those big rocks from going anywhere and the gas that surrounded the planet gave it a supernatural glow.

Ryan could already see the galaxy's sun. It was one of the smaller ones he had seen, but it was strong enough to keep the many planets and moons from drifting. Knowing earth was coming up, he tried to stop, knowing momentum could carry him pretty far. He had just made it to Mercury by the time he had managed to stop. He breathed a sigh of relief once he had stopped. It was hard to judge how fast you were going in space, but he must have been flying pretty fast to skid for so long.

He looked at the map for a moment longer. The unrealistic sketch of the planet was probably about as close to the planet in front of him as it was going to get.

His stomach was suddenly a flutter. This was it. This was the planet that Koriand'r lived on. Starfire was here.

Carefully judging the speed of his decent, he grew closer and closer to earth. The planet was surprisingly bright. Though he couldn't make out specific details, just the color of the sky near the sun was enough to show him how bright the days were.

He choked for a moment, his lungs having felt like they were collapsing. But he calmed himself, taking deep, gasping breaths. He knew it was just his body adjusting to earths atmosphere. The planet, clearly, was full of oxygen.

Hovering over what he could only guess was water, he allowed his next problem to arise: how was he going to find Koriand'r?

Ryan jumped, startled, when something in his suit vibrated. As far as Ryan could tell, nothing about the suit was or could be controlled by anything.

The 'something' vibrated again and Ryan turned, searching for whatever was causing the uncomfortable quivers. He was spinning, upside down and in every different degree, just patting himself and looking for whatever was alive, when he felt a pocket. He hadn't felt a pocket before.

Opening the pouch, he reached in, pulling out something that was small and black. It looked like some kind of control. Small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, the black thing vibrated. Being to advanced person he was, Ryan looked closely at the device. It hadn't vibrated before, clearly it had a reason now.

Ryan's finger slid into a groove in the device and Ryan guessed that he was holding it right. Pressing on the little groove however made the little black device change from black to a navy blue. A humming noise was now coming from the device, the sound getting higher in pitch. The thing changed colors again, brightening up and turning a light blue color.

Ryan held the thing away, the sound sounding like something powering up. He thought quickly of throwing the thing far into outer space, but it was far to intriguing to throw, not to mention the fact that he didn't even know what it was.

The thing was beginning to let out a faint aura that was slowing getting bigger. It encased Ryan's hand in the bright blue halo of light. But suddenly, the sound hit its apparent high and lines of white was abruptly appearing randomly in the blue halo. It looked like white lightning, flicking in the blue light.

Ryan knew that didn't look good, but he couldn't turn away from the spectacular light show.

Suddenly, Ryan felt heat and shocks spread through his hand, sending pain up his arm and into his chest.

Screaming, Ryan tried to let go of the device and drop it away from him, but the thing stuck to his hand, refusing to be removed.

Ryan's body was twitching madly and his hair was moving around oddly, probably meaning he was falling. Falling. Falling hard. Falling fast and probably towards certain death and doom. After all, he _was _above water, and from what he remembered about water and physics, hitting water at the speed he was probably going at wouldn't be much different from hitting a hard, cement, floor. And _then _there was the fact that he probably would drown after knocking himself out.

He tried to compose himself enough to think clearly, but the shocks and electricity that filled him was mind-encasing. He couldn't think straight and couldn't breathe right. He hadn't even had a proper amount of time to get used to breathing the planets oxygen, and already, he couldn't seem to breathe right.

The air was suddenly cooler and he knew he was close to water. He tried in vain, one last time, to clear his mind enough to float or fly away. He pushed out a burst of power, trying anything he could, but the device stuck to his hand only sent more power out in return. His scream of pain turned abruptly to yells of sheer anguish.

He didn't even have time to turn or spin or even try to save himself before he collided painfully with open water.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

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><p>oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

Dick sat up quickly.

He was breathing heavily and he was sweating an unusually amount.

But he somehow knew that it wasn't him that was in trouble. He turned quickly to Kory, shaking her arms in an attempt to wake her up. He hadn't had any bad dreams, in fact, he was so tired he hadn't dreamt of anything.

"Kory," he said, trying to rouse her from whatever horrible sleep she was in. "Kory get up."

She was currently just laying on her back. Completely out of it. Her hair was crazy, her clothes were burnt and in disarray from the combination of a plane crash and just normal sleeping.

After a few minutes of just shaking her, he began to panic. It was different when he had been on the phone earlier that night. Then, he had known she was okay. She had just merely been resting, but now... something was different. Something was _wrong._

"Takori." he said, using her nickname, her lids flew up, showing her wide, tear-filled, green eyes.

Dick turned on the old-looking bedside lamp, glad it wasn't too bright. He wasn't very close to her, the feeling making him uncomfortable as he had tried to fall asleep, but with her waking up scared, she pushed away at him weakly.

"Richard?" she half asked half called for, frantic, "Richard?"

She was getting louder and Dick knew she was beginning to panic.

"Yeah, Kory, its me." he said, grabbing her flailing arms and pulling her into him, "Your okay. I'm here."

But it didn't calm her. She just shook her head, trying to get away from him.

"Richard?" she called. _"Richard, a__juta. Ajuta, Richard."_

"Its alright, Kory." he tried, responding to her calls for help, "Your safe. I'm right here."

In his attempt to calm her, he ran his fingers through her hair. It was something that always calmed him, he just hoped it worked for her too, but in brushing back her hair, he noticed something. Her roots, they were black. Jet black, like Dick's were. Had he not have brushed back her slightly sweaty hair, he would have missed the little detail for sure. It was quite a contrast, the roots being that black as it faded out to her vibrant red.

Without thinking, he picked up the pink phone on the bedside table and pressed redial.

"You just better be dyeing," came Nick's grumpy voice.

"I need Raven." he said, urgently.

A thumping noise was heard and Dick knew Nick had either fallen out of bed or hit his head on something.

"No, I hit him." came Raven's voice. "I was just about to call you. I sensed something was wrong."

Dick wasn't even worried about _why_ Raven would hit Nick, he just needed to know Kory was alright.

"She's not waking up fully. I can't pull her out of this." he said, still shaking her, just in case.

"She breathing?"

"Yeah, but uneven."

"Heart rate?"

"Sped."

"Hands?"

"Clammy."

"Face?"

"Flushed."

"Skin?"

"Blotchy and sweaty."

"Alright. I just had to make sure. She's fine, okay? So don't worry. It's actually a good thing. It's a side effect to the memory loss. It's a repair tactic."

"It's not a bad dream, or anything?"

"It may be, but you wont be able to shake her from this. This is the final step in her repairing herself. By morning, she should be back to normal, for sure."

"But what do I do _now_?"

"Now? Now, you leave her be."

"Raven I can't sleep knowing she's... like this. I have to do something."

"Dick, you don't want to interfere with this process, but if you want, you can make her take an ibuprofen. That always helps me when I need to repair myself."

"And then?"

"And then nothing. The pill will calm her down, but besides that, you really can't do anything. She may seemed troubled, but believe me, shes not in pain. It's all in her head. She'll be fine. Trust me."

"Alright, and your sure she's okay?"

"Yes. Now goodnight."

With that, Raven was gone.

Dick spent a couple more minutes just holding Kory. He knew it wouldn't really mean much to her while she was like that, but he couldn't pull himself to leave her alone in the bed. She just looked so frail and scared. With tears running down her cheeks and her small gasps of breath here and there, he was truly scared for her. As much as he hated to admit it, he had emotions, and right now, they begged him not to leave the girl. The begged him to protect her. As stupid as it seemed.

She was shaking and finally, he gathered the courage to go and find the medicine.

Slipping out of bed, he made sure she was covered up in the blanket before he made his way out the door and down the hallway.

He felt like he was invading privacy as he searched the cabinets for a cup and the medicine. After finding a cup that had refrigerator magnets stuck to the outside, he filled it with water. But after finding no medicine, he figured it was probably in a bathroom. Not knowing where the bathroom was, he wondered down another hallway, hoping the bathroom door was already open and easy to find. Their were many more doors in that hallway and he figured this was where all the normal bedrooms were.

Just as he had hoped, the bathroom door was opened. Even with his mind-set on Kory, he noticed that the bathroom was a light blue color. Dick hadn't turned on any lights near the bathroom, but the room seemed to be illuminated by some other source, like a living room was with the TV left on.

Turning around, he found that the source was coming from the room behind him. The door was cracked, but a light blue light was coming from the cracks.

Dick was currently more determined to find the medicine, but even after he found it, he found himself intrigued about the room. He knew it was late, who else would be up.

He bit his nail for a moment, torn between two options, but after a moment, he simply put his ear to the door, trying to listen and find out what was happening. For all he knew, someone could have just fallen asleep watching TV.

"You don't _have_ to believe me, Chelsea, but I'm serious. I can't get in."

Dick recognized her voice as Emily. But at the moment, she didn't sound like the sweet, hyper, and curious girl her remembered from the kitchen. She sounded older, meaner. But then... she hadn't acted like a sweet little girl when he caught her coming out of the guest room, either.

"But how can you _not know_?" came an exasperated Chelsea, "Its telepathy. You read the mind and then your done."  
>"But I <em>cant<em>." came Emily's voice, "I've tried, but... its like there's some kind of block on their minds or something."

"Maybe you should try the boy's mind." came Tom's voice, "Would that make a difference?"

"I've told you _Tom_, I already tried. Earlier, when we where in the kitchen. I... unlike some people I know, was working."

_Now what kids would call their parents by their first names and say it so... sarcastic? Was that really his name and she was being smart?_

"She's right," came Marina's voice, "We _can not _jeopardize this mission... um..."

"Chelsea." Chelsea offered.

"Right, Chelsea. Flirting? You'll give us away. We need you to keep your head in the game."

_Forgetting your children's name? Not likely._

"I don't think flirting is going to ruin anything," she retorted, "Getting in his pants wont matter when he's dead. Who's he gonna tell?"

_Yeah right. Like that'll happen._

"Maybe, no one." Tom said, "Or maybe, someone. We don't know. I told you, he was hesitant when I shook his hand. He sensed something. He may be on to us. _You_ should have been racking his clothes instead of his pants, Chelsea. We need to know why their here when they should be in Gotham."

_How the heck could he know..._

"I wish I had a cooler power," Chelsea sighed, "I mean, micro-vision is cool, I guess. I _can_ see the little details, but Marina, I mean, you can sense lies and Tom, you can read emotions just by touch. And we all know Emily's has telepathy."

Dick pressed his back against the wall. He suddenly didn't feel so right shaking Tom's hand. Now, he felt a little like it was an invasion of privacy on Tom's part. The hand shake had been just to get a reading on his emotions. They where reading him like a book. With Chelsea being able to see small objects, Tom being able to read his emotions, Emily the telepath, and Marina the lie-detector, they made one heck of a reading family. But easily, Dick could tell not only were they not using their real names, but they were clearly strangers to each other as well.

Dick wasted no time running back down the hall, grabbing the cup of water on the way. He locked the door behind himself. After making Kory take the pill, he ran a hand through his hair. Now what? It was, according to the phone, 2:30 in the morning. He was in the middle of nowhere. The very phone in his hand was probably bugged and wired all kinds of ways. And, he was stuck with a sick Kory.

Knowing he couldn't stay, he decided he'd take his chances in the outdoors. Who knew if the family was trained or had weapons. He'd rather face the outdoors than put Kory in danger... again.

After checking the window for detectors, and after finding one, he put a refrigerator magnet from the cup he had used on the detector and lifted up the window. Sure he was in the clearing with the detector, he shivered in the frigid wind that blew in from the outside.

He took a deep breath before wrapping Kory up in a blanket and picking her up bridal style. He wished he could take the phone, but knew it was too risky.

With one last glance into the room, he slipped out the window.

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><p>AN: How was it? Alright? I hope so, I rushed it a bit. So Somethings fishy with Ryan. Tim's in the hospital. Jervis is _D.E.A.D. _**CRAZY, MAN! **Kory and Dick are on the run again. Poor Dick. Just cant seem to get things right.

I guess you'll just have to wait and see where this leads. Because, of course, you know I have surprises up my sleeve. _Tee-hee-hee. _Can't wait for you guys to find out what. But a hint of whats to come, possibly the scariest thing is still to come: dinner. I guess nothing could go wrong. A psyched out Bruce. Jealous Barbara. Troubled Nick. Recovering Tim. Hungry Cyborg. Angry Raven. Meat-a-phobic Beast Boy. Inpatient Richard. And a nervous Kory. All at the same table. What could go wrong?

Anyway, you know the drill. Review. I'm gonna try something knew, okay? I wont even _start_ writing the next chapter until I get at least 20 reviews. Yeah. I say it. 20. Wont even start. Now, you _may _review more than once, but that kind of takes away the magic, huh? Its up to you how you do it though. So get those fingers typing!

_ScarletDrake out


	20. Waking

If you couldn't tell already, im a bit of a night-owl. I like getting things done when its late, which is why im uploading this at 11:00 at night. And you guys are lucky, I usually like the am's better.

Anyway, sorry this took so long. Thank you all for the reviews, but, I think I'll let you slide on the 20 reviews this time. You deserve a break.

Enjoy this, like always.

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

Villain files. Villain files. More files. Save. Delete. Copy and move. Skip. Unimportant. Boring. Wayne bills. Wayne employees. Trash. Blank page. Triple encrypted. Triple encrypted hack. Triple encrypted trash. Unimportant.

Nick had been staring at the bat-computer for hours now, since before Dick had called, actually. It wasn't that he was _looking_ for something important or helpful. Really, he just hoped to run across something of that nature. Something that would explain Bruce's behavior. Or maybe explain where his parents had come from. Or something new on Jervis, perhaps.

Going into the secret files on Wayne Enterprises, he ran a scan on the last communication Bruce had had with anyone there. The computer flashed and _pinged_ with the completion of the scan and Nick opened the file.

_**Unauthorized, **_blinked in red and Nick typed in a few override codes. But still, the unauthorized word flashed on the screen.

He had expected that, really. Bruce normally kept his 'Bat-Files' in the cave's database and normally made anything that had to do with Bruce Wayne completely on lock-down. No one should have any kind of access to that kind of information.

The screen flashed and _pinged_ again as a previous search of his got its results. The information took a lot longer that Nick was used to. He wasn't sure whether or not that was a good or bad thing. A DNA's chromosome, genome, and allele blueprint popped up and Nick read the dialysis summery scrolling across on the side.

Extremely hazardous. Slow, painful death. Inject into neck vein. Not native to earth. Tameranian.

The poison. The one that killed Jervis, it was Tameranian.

Nick furrowed his eyebrows. How could someone get access to Tameranian poison? It couldn't have been someone from earth, right? Tameranians weren't the kind of race to just hand out that kind of stuff.

Which raised another question, who, with that kind of power, would want to take out some small, psycho like Jervis? Jervis wasn't exactly in the 'big leagues'. Either he had done something, or he had something _really_ important to someone.

Nick quickly sent the DNA blueprint to Commissioner Gordon's email quickly before logging off of the cave's computer. Since no one had even come close to figuring out the poison that had killed Jervis, Nick had taken it upon himself to figure it out.

He was all suited up before the elevator in the cave came to a stop at the top. With the steel toe of his boots clicking on the kitchen floor, he nearly slapped himself when he remembered his 'parents' could have been walking around. He wasn't sure on their situation, but he was pretty sure they weren't aware (or were supposed to pretend like they weren't aware) of his and Dick's... hobbies.

Backing up into a shadow, he made sure the few rooms around him was empty. From the kitchen, he could see the TV on in the main living room, but Victor's head sat in front of it and he relaxed. Coming out the shadows, he made his way over to Victor to let him know he was going out.

"Hey man," Victor spoke as he approached, "Goin out on patrol?"

"Not tonight," he answered, "Got some business to take care of."

"Last time you said that, a dead guy was found."

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head, "Lets hope tonight that wont happen."

Being right behind Victor, Blue Jay could see that Victor wasn't actually watching TV. Instead, he was looking at a holographic screen on his arm.

"Still looking for the kid," Victor said, reading his mind, "I don't know, I have a thing for kids. This whole situation is pretty sketchy, but I cant stand it when people bring little kids into the mix."

"I understand," Blue Jay said, patting Victor's shoulder. "I'm gonna head out, but if the hospital calls about Tim or anything else comes up, call me."

Victor nodded and with that, Blue Jay headed towards the front door. His plan was just to head to Wayne Enterprises and see what was up. He knew that he could hack those computers easily, and the communication Bruce had established last was a pretty important detail.

"Where you going, dude?" came a voice and Blue Jay turned to where Garfield was coming down the hall.

"Out." he answered, and turned to leave, but Garfield ran after him.

"Can I come too?" he asked, and Blue Jay sighed. He wanted this to be an in and out mission. He didn't want any delays.

"It's just some recon," he answered, "You'd be bored."

"I don't care. No offense, but this house is creepy. You know, big portraits of people who are probably dead up on the walls, creepy. I don't know how you dealt with this as a child."

Simply put, Blue Jay didn't very much like the house either. It was big and cold in some places. It was way too clean to be unnoticeable. And the pictures of Bruce's parents and grandparents _were_ pretty creepy. The only way he had dealt with it was by sticking close to his brother.

"Alright," he gave in, "But you'll have to suit up quickly."  
>"Already done," Garfield said, slipping a ring off his fingers.<p>

As if by magic, his skin faded to green and his ears pointed. Surprisingly, he had already had his suit on.

"Ready when you are." he said with a toothy grin.

Opening the door, Blue Jay realized that it was raining, and although the rain didn't bother him, he knew people had a tendency to slow down in rain.

"Give me a ride?" he asked, and Beast Boy responded with shifting into a pterodactyl.

Pointing the way for Beast Boy, the two arrived on the roof of Wayne enterprises. Beast Boy shifted back to his human form and looked over the side of the building curiously.

"This is your step dads place, right?" he asked.

Instead of responding though, Blue Jay motioned to the big, lit up **WAYNE **letters that sat on the roof just feet away. It looked much like the Jump industries branch only, bigger. Flipping open his Titans Com, he used it to turn off all the security in the building.

"Right," Beast Boy continued, "So why are we breaking in? Don't you have a key or something?"

The lock Blue Jay had begun pick popped open and he went in.  
>"There are no keys to this building," Blue Jay said as they descended down the stairs, "This place is guarded with technology. Voice command. Iris scans. That kind of stuff. I <em>could<em> get in that way, but the scans record anyone who enters and I don't want anyone to know we've been here."

"Good point." Beast Boy said, turning into a hawk and flying down the rest of the stairs. "So next question, what are we here for?"

Blue Jay held a finger to his lips, indicating silence, and he opened the door at the end of the staircase and entered the semi-dark hallway. The hallways were never _completely _dark, tiny light sensitive lights were built in the floor boards and dimmed recess lighting lined the walls and ceiling dimly.

"Talk about wasting energy," Beast Boy whispered, "Are they always on?"

"Yeah," Blue Jay responded back, "But they don't waste energy, there solar powered."

"How do you solar charge something in a hallway with no windows?"

"There's a big battery out back. The sun charges that and the battery distributes the power equally."

Blue Jay covered Beast Boys mouth before he could say anything else. Beast Boy was about to protest before four heavy guards, two going the same way and two going the other, passed by. They nodded their heads at each other, before peeking into the room they were passing, and then moved on down the hall.

"We have to hurry," Blue Jay whispered, letting go of Beast Boy and rushing into the room the guards had just passed. "They'll be back in 10 minutes. Maybe less."

"Why is this room so guarded?" Beast Boy asked, gently closing the door behind them.

"This is Bruce Wayne's office." Blue Jay said, sitting at Bruce's desk and turning on the computer. "Dont touch anything. I don't know what is and isn't censored. One touch could set off an alarm."  
>"But I thought you disabled those."<p>

"No, just the cameras. Anything else might tip-off police or security. I can't risk that."

Beast Boy went around to see what Blue Jay was doing, but most of it looked like numbers and letters all jumbled up into a single screen of mush. So while Blue Jay hacked into the database, Beast Boy looked around. He was careful not to touch anything and just limited himself to looking out the door window for guards and sniffing around for anything odd.

He was pretty sure he had Bruce Wayne's smell in his memory, but hardly any other smell was in the room. Needless to say, even if there was, it wouldn't prove anything suspicious.

"Beast Boy come here," Blue Jay whispered and Beast Boy quickly bond over to him.

"Write this down for me," he said, motioning to the pen and paper on the desk. "'Backup Folder currently set to /storage/sdcard0/CallLogBackupRestore/. Readable Date Format generated the Readable Date. Default/Internal Storage Card. Restore Preference Backup. Call log discovered.'"

Beast Boy barely had time to write, but by time he finished, his fingers had begun to cramp. Not to mention the fact that Blue Jay read fast. He slammed the notepad on the desk in a triumphant order, but the sound echoed and the phone on the desk jumped off of its cradle.

Beast Boy didn't look up, knowing Blue Jay would be glaring, but instead, he made himself look completely busy and occupied picking the phone up. When Beast Boy heard typing again, he breathed a sigh of relief and put the phone back in its cradle, only for it not to sit right.

He scratched the back of his head and tried to readjust the way the phone sat, but no matter how hard he tried, the phone just wouldn't sit right. It kept leaning to far to the left or to the right.

"Beast Boy," Blue Jay hissed, "Your making too much noise."

"It's this stupid phones fault. It wont sit right."

Blue Jay took the phone and tried to sit it right himself. When even he couldn't do it, he ignored it in his classic sore looser way and went back to typing. But Beast Boy knew it would bother him to no end if they left and the phone still wasn't they way they had left it.

Running his fingers over the mouth piece, he made sure nothing was there to obstruct the phone from clicking into place. When he found nothing, he ran his thumb over the earpiece, but something sharp pulled at his skin and he held in a yelp.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Blue Jay throw him a curious glance but when back to working. Shifting into a spider, Beast Boy tried to get a closer look.

"What are you doing?" Blue Jay asked, but Beast Boy ignored him, knowing he couldn't respond.

Looking at the receiver, even with eight eyes, he couldn't see anything. Shifting to a snake, he tried to see if any heat was coming from the phone, a usual sign that something was running or some kind of machine was at work. But he found nothing there either. Shifting into an ant though, he found a tiny needle sticking up in the middle of the receiver.

His heart raced as he shifted back to his normal self.

"Dude-" he started, but was cut off by Blue Jay.

"Hold on, look." he pressed a few buttons and an image of Bruce Wayne came up, "This is his last transmission to the building." pressing play, he sat back to listen.

'_**Hi Lucius, sorry to run off yesterday, I've decided to treat myself to an impromptu vacation. Hope you don't mind running things without me for a while, I know your used to it.' **_

And with a chuckle, the screen went black.

"That was _much _too quick for the head of a major business to give for an explanation. I mean yes, he's allowed to take a leave. But on such short notice is unheard of. The message wasn't even a minute long. And then, of course, there's the fact that he didn't _take_ a vacation. He's right at home. And _then-_"

"Dude, wait." Beast Boy said, cutting off his rant, "There's something you should see."

Blue Jay raised an eyebrow, but shut down the computer and stood from his chair.

"Okay," he said, leaning back on the desk, "What is it?"

Beast Boy handed the phone receiver to Blue Jay and looked on.

"Whats wrong?" Blue Jay asked, flipping the phone over in his hand, "I don't see anything."

"You have to look closely. Its microscopic."

Blue Jay pulled what looked like a small tablet from his belt and pressed his finger to the center. The screen lit up and anything under it was magnified to his choosing. Blue Jay had to zoom in a few times before he was even able to see the needle that protruded from the ear piece.

"Beast Boy," he said "you just found the nanobots that's controlling Bruce."

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

Dick was resting, Kory right beside him. He had somehow carried her all the way to the top of the hill, just beyond the house. He could still see it clearly, a single room light lit by a lamp that he knew the odd-family were in, but besides that, the night cloaked everything else in black.

The hill was tall and big, and it had taken most of his time just to get up it with Kory, but the other time spent was his debating on the electric fence he had had to cross. He had debated on it for about 10 minutes, the horror memory of being shocked still in his mind. But it had turned out that the fence hadn't even been on. He must have _really_ short circuited it when he had been shocked.

Laying back in the dirt besides Kory, exhaustion took over him. He had barely had two hours to sleep before Kory had woken him. And he had been dead tired even before that. And after carrying her up that big hill, he felt like he could sleep anywhere and at anytime. But he sat back up, keeping himself awake.

For the 4th time in the past ten minutes, he turned his attention to Kory. She was wrapped tight in the blanket, but with the sprinkling rain her blanket was quickly becoming drenched. Which was bad, considering she was already 'sick'.

Pulling them both over out of the clearing he was in, he propped himself back against a tree with his legs stretched out and put Kory in his lap. She was still shaking, but he was pretty sure it was from the cold now and not from her memory loss issue. He wanted so badly to warm her up. To at least get her out of the rain for a moment, but the only way he could think of was a shield and he was far to drained to even think about something like that at the moment.

Even so, he put exhaustion to the back of his mind and tried to focus. Just a few minutes in a warm shield would do them both some good. He might even get back some feeling in his numbing fingers.

With his eyes closed, Dick focused solely on his energy and blocked out all the noise of this woods and the smell of rain and the feel of Kory in his arms. He just focused on himself. On how he felt. What he wanted to happen.

He felt that familiar feeling of drifting. Floating. And then his eyelids were filled with white and he opened them. It was surprisingly easy to hold up the shield. In his mind, it had seemed laborious, but really, it only took concentration. Nothing that required physical energy.

It was zero gravity in his shield, so Kory easily slipped from his lap, limply. The shield was only a few feet big, so he didn't bother to grab her back, instead, letting her float just at arms reach. He crossed his legs, laying back limp being too weird for him and set his arms on his knees, in a classic meditative stance. It was as comfy as he could get.

His bubbled of a shield was warm and he sighed in it. He felt better, but his fatigue was suddenly overwhelming.

He gave up. Right then and there. He was just too tired. If he didn't take a quick power-nap now, he'd pass out sometime in the near future. He was safe for now. He was inside his shield. If anything happened, his shield would hold up, at least until he woke and made his next move.

With no effort at all, he simply closed his eyes and was out.

He was sure he was asleep, but then, why was he opening his eyes?

His feet hit the ground, or what he thought was the ground. He couldn't tell. This place he was at was pitch black. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face if he wanted to.

_Richard?_

The voice hit him like bricks. Scarred the crap out of him, too. But he knew instantly who it belonged to.

_**Kory? Where are you?**_

Things were making sense again. He _was_ asleep, but he must have... somehow went into his mind. Was this going to be a every time thing or something?

As if someone had turned on a light, things suddenly got brighter and he could see his hands again. But then again, there was nothing to see. He seemed to be in a room with endless floor and no walls or borders.

_I knew you'd come._

And suddenly, he was engrossed in a hug. He had no idea what she was talking about, but he nodded his head anyway. He liked being her hero. Besides, in her mind, she apparently was all better. And that was something to celebrate about.

_**How long have you been in here?**_

_It seems like forever! I couldn't wake myself up, but I waited. I knew you'd find me._

Perhaps it was his mind playing tricks on him, but he was sure he felt himself blushing. He hadn't even know you could blush in your mind.

He took that brief moment of her closeness to examine her a bit. She looked well in his mind. Well, she always did, but here, she wasn't a figment of his imagination. Here, this was her.

The first thing he noticed was that her hair was all red again. Their was no black streaks or dark roots. Just her strawberry red hair, and that, he was glad for.

_**Just doing my job. **_he played off, **_How do you feel?_**

_Fine, _she said, completely normal. _Why? _

Dick didn't _really _want to tell her all of what had happened.

_**No reason it's just - whats the last thing you remember, Kory?**_

_The party, _she said, confidently, _I remember Chris trying to fix Tim's hair and you missing a shoe._

Wow, okay. That was a few days ago. When Rachel had said she was okay, he had believed her. But now, she clearly wasn't alright. She was missing days of her life! Important things had happened between that time, and she didn't even remember it.

Rachel had warned him about this. It had been a tricky procedure, but he had acted so selfish. He was too big of a coward to just admit he was wrong to her and right his wrongs, and now look where it had gotten him. Where it had gotten her.

He had to tell her the truth.

_**Kory, look. There's something you should know-**_

He had hardly gotten the words out before his mind's eye broke away like glass. Kory and their little haven fell away and he was suddenly thrown back into his white shield.

He was utterly confused for a moment, but his arms shook and for some reason, his shield was threatening to fall. But the strain of keeping the shield up lessened a bit and he saw Kory's arms up and she reinforced his shield with her own energy.

Moments passed, and the shield, it walls shaking slightly at the energy it was being fed. But finally, the shield sat without threatening to break and Dick allowed his arms to drop and energy to stop. Kory did that same, and they both dropped out of it, Kory slipping a bit on the wet grass.

Hard rain immediately drenched them, but Dick wasn't concerned. Instead, he was looking around himself. The lush, green, area he had remembered was somehow transformed into dry, hard, and burnt earth. Some patches around them were still on fire. Trees were snapped in half, some burnt down completely, and some still burning down. Everything seemed to be leaning back and the trees canopies were either pushed back completely, or they were gone, letting the rain down without a barrier.

Dick followed the destruction with his eyes to the focus point; the house just down the hill. Kory and him must have noticed at the same time, because they both began moving in that direction at the same time.

The spot that the house used to sit in looked as if nothing had been there at all. No evidence of the house was there, even though a lot of the area was on fire. Burnt, black, dirt was the only thing that was visible and the area was flat, like it had been paved over.

"It's all gone," Kory said, as they reached the area. "What happened?"

"Something blew it away," Dick guessed, "The best I can figure. The fire. The leveling. The burning and the strong wind. Something blew up."

"Something big," Kory agreed, lifting up a piece of tree that had blown over.

There was a small shuffling sound. Dick slowly stood from his crouch, his hand up to signal Kory to be quiet.

"Someones alive," Kory said, ignoring his signal and began walking towards a previously unnoticed piece of sheet-rock lay.

He had no idea how she could tell when things and people were alive and weren't, but he followed her, expecting to find some lucky chipmunk or squirrel. But instead, they found Chelsea. Her hair was singed, her clothes dirty and smoking with heat.

Kory looked back at Dick expectantly, her face already tearful, and Dick took the lead, checking her vitals and respiratory. Her breathing was shallow, but Dick knew that wouldn't last long.

"Can we heal her?" Kory asked, but Dick just shook his head, taking a seat beside the girl.

Kory sat beside him, curling up into him, probably shielding herself from the cold and rain. It was cold anyway, any heat she could get, he would give.

"We just... wait?" Kory whispered.

"At least until we're sure," he whispered, back. "If she somehow pulls through, then we have to get her some help."

"But we already know..."

"...Until we're sure, Kory."

They sat their for a little while longer, the rain still beating down. Kory resisted the urge to put a shield above them. She didn't want to be comfortable when someone beside her was dyeing. She wasn't sure where she was, how she had gotten there, or who the dyeing girl was; but Kory at least wanted to _try _to be respectful.

"Alright," Dick said, sitting up and taking the girl's hand in his, feeling for a pulse, "We'll leave in a minute."

Did that mean the girl was dyeing? Was this it? How could he tell like he had? How could he be so calm in such a dire and sad situation?

"You mean... you mean..." she stuttered, "This is... this is it...? Is she...?"

"Yeah," he interrupted, "She's going."

"But... but we have to do something! Richard shes dyeing!"

"I know," he said calmly, "But there isn't anything we can do."

"We have to save her. Talk to her. Anything!"

Dick watched a moment as Kory shook her head, burying her hands in her hair. He knew this would be hard for her to experience. If he had been thinking, he would have sent her away for a while. It was hard for anyone to sit and watch someone else die. That feeling of hopelessness and helplessness was one of pure grief.

"She's not in any pain," Dick tried, "For her, its like going to sleep."

He expected her to shake her head, or cry, or anything, but Kory just kept her head down.

"Kory, I know this is hard for you-" he tried again, but still she didn't move.

It was then that he realized that he didn't sense her. Didn't feel that usual tug of her presence. That little voice in the back of his mind that showed him where she was, how she felt, what she was doing. It was gone.

He let go of Chelsea for a moment and scooted himself closer to Kory. His first thoughts reasoned that she may have just passed out, but seeing her, still sitting up and her head down, he knew she was awake.

"Kory?" he asked, tilting her head up at him.

Her eyes were still closed, but her lips were moving. As if she was talking to him, but she didn't make any sounds. He asked her name again, shaking her a little, but she didn't respond.

Cupping her cheeks with his hands, he closed his eyes, trying to find her another way. With his mind. He felt her, she wasn't far, hadn't _really _left, but she certainly wasn't in her right mind frame. She was just out of reach. Just out of earshot. He heard her voice, but he couldn't quite make out the words she was saying.

But he heard another voice. Quieter. Weaker. Possibly further away. It was talking to Kory.

With a gasp, he pulled himself out of the trance. He whipped his head away, throwing rain water from his hair around. Even in the dark, he saw Chelsea's eye lids flutter, but never quite open. Her lips moved slightly, weakly, as if matching that voice he heard in Kory's mind.

"Kory!" he yelled, moving back to her, "Wake up! Get out!"

Chelsea was still dyeing. Nothing he or her could do would change that. But Kory was in Chelsea's mind; what would happen when she passed? Would or could she take Kory with her?

"Kory, please!" he begged, moving her matted down hair out her face, "Get out!"

He put his forehead against hers, going back into her mind. He could still hear Chelsea's voice, but it was definitively weaker and quieter. She was going, and fast. Dick couldn't find his voice. He didn't know how. Talking in his own mind came naturally, but for some reason, it was different here. He couldn't call out to Kory, wherever she was, and he couldn't try to and find her in the darkness that he was in. He felt like his mind was simply floating around in hers. He couldn't speak and couldn't do anything but move his own mind away.

Suddenly, much faster than he could prepare for, a light flashed and he felt himself being thrown from Kory's mind. He crashed into his own body faster than he was used to and it took him a moment to orientate himself.

Something familiar pushed at the back of his mind and he opened his eyes, finding himself staring into Kory's bright green ones. Relief flooded him, seeing that she hadn't been killed or gone brain-dead.

Her eyes shifted, looking behind him, and he knew she was looking at Chelsea. She was dead. He just hoped her little chat was worth the risk.

"Search her pockets," Kory said, crawling around him, towards Chelsea. "She kept talking about some important key she had. I think it has something to do with us."

Kory's talk with Chelsea had mostly been composed of herself just trying to decipher what the girl was talking about. Her mind was all over the place. Memories of her childhood, her first boyfriend, finding out about her powers, riding on the school bus, burying a dead bird, a man named Gunner. It was a wonder Kory even found out about the key.

The image, though, had been prominent in Chelsea's mind. There was something about the key that made it so important. She went on and on about Gunner's instructions. Whoever he was. And she kept reminding herself that it was in her pocket.

Maybe it was the key to her house or car, but for her to speak so importantly about it, Kory felt it had to be important.

Going through her front pockets, Richard joined the search and looked around on the ground, in case it fell out.

"You know," he said, after a minute of silence, "that was incredibly stupid."

"What-" she began, before he cut her off.

"She was dyeing. You shouldn't have been in her mind."

"I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't just let her die like that. I didn't even know her name."

"_You could have died_," he hissed, causing her to flinch.

She watched him as he took a deep breath, probably trying to calm himself. She knew she must have scarred him. She had scarred herself when that bright light had flashed. She realized that she may have gotten herself trapped in there, but she took a chance. If it turned out that the key was important, wouldn't that make her gamble worth it?

"It's not worth it," he said, still not looking at her, and she wondered if he had heard her somehow, "You mean more to me than this whole ordeal."

She knew he meant it as making a point, but his words made her feel all fuzzy inside. He cared about her. He cared about her more than their situation. More than being tracked down and hunted. More than their mission, and that meant so much to her. For someone like Richard, who doubled as a super-focused-no-nonsense-superhero, that meant more to her than anything in the world. His words spoke volumes.

She hid her gleeful face and feelings well, hoping that he didn't mistake her mirth for spite of him. She didn't want him to think she was mocking him or treating his feelings with no care. She valued his show of emotions and treasured every heartfelt feeling he shared.

Moving her fingers over the rough and burnt dirt, she barely saw that glittering gold key that lay hidden.

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

Ryan was sure of one thing. He couldn't move.

Sleep still held him down and he couldn't seem to open his eyes, but light was filling his lids and a cold breeze was blowing. Ryan struggled against whatever was holding him down. It all reminded him too much of the experiments he was forced to endure. All the days and nights strapped to a table and poked and prodded. Waking up in random successions only for pain to fill every inch of his body. Passing out. Waking up. The headaches.

It sent him into a mild panic attack. He weakly pulled at his arms and tried to free his legs. He was stuck and claustrophobia was kicking in with his inability to move.

"Relax." came a voice, and with renewed vigor, Ryan forced his eyes open. "You're in no danger."

Ryan forced himself to stay calm. He realized with a shock, that he was staring into the face of the man he had seen on the screen back on the Gordanian ship. He had a different suite on, but it was crisp and clean. He had no hair, but oddly, it didn't seem to change the fact that he looked near perfect. Perfect teeth. Perfect symmetrical head and eyes. It was like a drawing.

The man sat down beside Ryan, a smile on his face.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said, "Your no captive here."

He motioned down and it was then that Ryan realized he was on a bed. A real bed. With pillows, sheets. And he wasn't bound down, he was tucked in.

Ryan felt his face heat up a bit. He was far past overreacting.

"How did I get here?" he asked in the language the man spoke.

"Lucky for you," the man replied, "I was on my yacht and saw you fall from the sky. I dove in and rescued you, then brought you back here. You've been asleep a whole day."

"I thank you." Ryan said, that day coming back in waves.

Hitting the water. Blacking out. Those shocks. It was horrible.

"I'll let you get your rest," the man said, patting his leg.

"No," Ryan objected, "I'm rested enough. I should be on my way, actually."

"At least stay for breakfast," the man pleaded, and Ryan felt almost bad for not suggesting it himself.

"Of course."

He owned the man his life. Where he came from, no one would ever think of jumping in water to rescue him. The least he could do was postpone his search to have breakfast. He needed to eat too anyway, right?

"Interesting suite." the man said, noticing the black suit Ryan had on when he got up. "Very odd material."

Ryan didn't say anything. He had been under the impression that this man had designed the suite. In fact, he had been under the impression that this man was his next master. His next owner. But he was so nice. Maybe, his life would have turned to the better without that attack on the Gordanian ship.

The man led him to a large room where a large rectangular table and numerous chairs sat around it.

"Ignore the size," the man said, "I hardly ever use this room."

"It is no bother," Ryan said, sitting where the man held his hand out to. "I should be thanking you Mr..."

"Lex Luther." the man smiled, "But called me Luther."

"Mr. Luther," Ryan clarified, "I am honored to be your guest."

Luther held up a glass that a woman had brought as if to toast to him.

The woman went around the whole table to pour some water in Ryan's glass. She was tall with reddish-brown hair that was cut in a sloppy bob. She worse a plain suite that matched her plain face. She had absolutely _no_ facial expression. But Ryan didn't mind, he was being treated like royalty. The way he was supposed to be treated.

"Thank you, Mercy." Luther said, with a nod.

"Thank you, Ms. Mercy." Ryan added, as she placed a weird yellow mush of stuff on the plate in front of him.

The woman ignored him and continued to put food on his plate. Ryan ate slowly, the tastes of the planet unfamiliar. But, it was good. _So _good.

"I find your appearance a bit shocking and familiar," Luther said, taking a bite of the yellow mush on his plate, "By any means, do you have any relatives nearby?"

Ryan didn't want to stop eating to respond, but he forced himself to swallow and answer the man.

"I have a relative that I am here looking for, actually."  
>"A hero here, perhaps?"<p>

"I am not sure," Ryan said with a shake of his head. "I have yet to see or meet her."

"Let me think of the name of the girl you remind me of." he said as he tapped his chin, "Let me see. Sunkiss? Moonshine? Starburst?"

"Starfire?" Ryan asked, his eyes widening and his food all but forgotten.

"Ah, yes." Luther said with a snap, "That's it. Do you know her, by any chance?"

Ryan had to take a moment to compose himself. That girl, Starfire, she was well-known here? A hero? How cool was that?

"I think we may be related!" Ryan burst.

"My boy," Luther said, "I thought you said you never met her before."

"I haven't! But I'm here looking for her."

"Well, then," Luther said brightly, "We must arrange for you to meet her. Immediately."

"Really?" Ryan asked, eyes alight, "Do you know her?"

"Not personally, but I can arrange for it. See me and the heroes are... familiar with each other. I'll have her come by all means necessary."

"But... what if she doesn't want to come?" he asked, the depressing thought suddenly popping into his head.

"Oh, she'll come. We'll make her."

Ryan smiled and nodded, but it was his typical emotionless mask. The one he wore when the Gordanians made fun of him or asked how his day had been. They were never sincere, but he'd smile and pretend like it didn't affect him anyway.

He didn't much like the way Luther said he'd make her come. Starfire was related to him, she was probably a royal and more importantly, a lady. A girl. He wanted her treated respectfully. By no means did he want her brought without her consent or forced.

Out of awkwardness, he stuffed his face with more of the yellow stuff.  
>"Cheese for your eggs?" Mercy asked, and Ryan nodded, fearing having an empty mouth.<p>

An empty mouth would mean he'd have to talk and he wasn't feeling so sure about Lex Luther anymore. Mercy came back a second later, sprinkling some shredded stuff on his yellow stuff. It was confusing, all the different foods. The only thing he was used to was Rotnas scraps and sandwiches.

"You can stay here," Luther suggested, "Until we find Starfire."

Ryan stuffed his face some more. He didn't want to be the one to make the call. Yes, he wanted to see her, but no, he didn't want to force her here and honestly, that sounded a lot like what Luther had in mind. Maybe Luther wasn't as nice as he seemed.

Mercy approached Luther, whispering something in his ear and Luther took a napkin and dabbed his mouth.

"Excuse me, I have a call." Luther said, standing and walking out of the room with Mercy on his heels.

Ryan looked at the food he was stuffing face with. Before, he had just been absently eating. Doing something to occupy his mouth with so that he didn't have to speak. But now, he stopped for a just a second. That cheese, or whatever Mercy had put on his yellow stuff was _really_ good. No, amazing. Even in the midst of his confusion, it brought a smile to his face.

Yes, cheese was good.

But the smile quickly vanished. And bile was suddenly filling his mouth. He hiccuped, one hand going to his unsettled tummy and the other covering his mouth. He hiccuped again and knew that he needed a bathroom.

He should have thought of it sooner. He certainly wasn't used to eating so much food and he had never had earth food before. He should have only eaten a little, and slowly, instead of stuffing his face with the stuff.

He stood from his chair, looking down the hallway Luther had gone down. He was no where in sight and neither was Mercy. But Ryan needed a bathroom now. He couldn't wait for neither to come back.

Picking a random hallway, he rushed down it.

_Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom._

He just wanted a bathroom. He felt something rise and turned into the nearest room, hoping to find a trashcan. Luckily, there was one right by the door and he was able to clear his stomach in that.

When he finished he stood, still feeling a little queasy and sweaty. Yes, eating so much when he was only used to eating a sandwich was a dumb idea.

He saw a chair at a desk, just inches away and every fiber in him wanted to take a seat in it. He was exhausted from his little episode and wasn't much in a hurry to try to find his way back to the dinning room. But Luther may have gone back to an empty room, and Ryan didn't want to get in trouble for leaving the table without permission.

But his body won out and Ryan collapsed in the chair. It felt so good to sit, despite having been sleeping and sitting for the past day. Now he just wanted a cold cloth to put on his forehead. Oddly enough, just sitting there made him feel tired, which was stupid since all he done for a day was sleep. He told himself this several times and he let his head loll back. He wasn't tired.

He jerked up, catching himself before he fell asleep.

Ok, maybe he _was_ tired.

But he was a guest, and sitting in a room he wasn't invited in, falling asleep, was not proper. A true prince would never even dream of doing something like that.

He set his hands on the desk and stood up, prepared to go back to the dining room when a picture on the desk caught his eye. Well, half of a picture. Looking at the desk, he caught a flash of what looked like red hair. He had a quick inner argument about disturbing things that wasn't his before suddenly moving the papers on top of the picture.

He held in a gasp, seeing a picture of a serious looking Starfire. She had on a bright green dress and her hair was done up in a bun. Despite looking pretty, she didn't seem anything near happy. The picture wasn't clear, in fact, it looked more like a surveillance snapshot. There was a boy behind her, with a black suite on and dark black hair and blue eyes. He was holding her hand, seemingly trying to pull her along. **Koriand'r and Richard **was printed at the top and while Ryan already knew Koriand'r was the girl, he hadn't seen any evidence of Richard before.

But that was changing quickly as he, despite his inner judgment, began looking at the papers on the desk.

This was clearly Luther's office, as a lot of the things on the desk had signatures with his name on it, but the picture Ryan had first seen was still bothering him. Luther had pretended like he hadn't known Starfire's name. Why was that, when he had tons of papers with her name on it?

A thick red folder was at the bottom of all the paper and Ryan cast a look at the door before opening it up. Gordanian fleets of all size was listed along with tons of information on them, mostly, how to bring them down. Flipping a few pages, he saw one of the list objects was circled in red. A sloppy side note was scratched on the side that read _**page 16**_.

Without thinking, he flipped open to said page. The page was full of scribbled notes and other little pictures and sticky notes. Apparently, this specific ship was important. A picture of the said ship was tacked to the top and Ryan immediately recognized it. Some odd Gordanian writing was on the side of the ship and Ryan knew it by heart. It was the ship he had lived on for years.

Just as it was with the other pages, scribbled notes and side-notes lined the page. _**Money Owed: $50,000,0000,000 **_was in bold at the top of the page. Was Luther buying the ship? Why did he owe money to a Gordanian? But then, this page, more-so than the others, had more information on how to bring the ship _down._ Why would Luther destroy a ship that he wanted to buy?

Confusion was setting in and Ryan closed his eyes, taking a moment to compose himself. He always did this when he was overwhelmed. Not that this was any of his business, but somehow, Luther was beginning to become more of a foreboding figure than a rescuer. Was it even a coincidence that Luther was nearby?

Shaking his head, he looked again. He flipped a few pages over and two pages were stuck together. The first page he recognized instantly, but only because it was designs for the exact suite he was wearing. Insulating. Weather changing. Footed shoes. Black. Pockets. It was all here. But hadn't Luther acted like the suite was new too?

Okay, Ryan was getting, Luther was a liar.

He was not someone to be trusted. And with that in mind, Ryan didn't feel half as bad snooping around his stuff.

The other page that was stuck to the back of the page had what looked like a layout of the ship he had been on. The brig, where he slept, was highlighted in yellow. And beside all of that was a scribbled note that read, _**K-29 Bomb. **_

Another interesting find. Luther, was apparently hoarding bombs. But again, for what? This seemed like some kind of investment. Luther was buying something from the Gordanians, seemingly a ship, since that was what the folder mainly focused on, but that idea was slowly changing as he turned the page.

His face, clear as day, was planted right in the middle of the page. His age. Hair color. Eye color. Skin color. Abilities. Weaknesses. It was all listed. And Ryan recognized the page well. It was an application. His _own_ application.

Perhaps he wasn't out of the woods yet. Someone still wanted to buy him. But wait...

Ryan was suddenly feeling a bit queasy and took a seat. Before that day, when he was still with the Gordanians, he had believed that Luther was going to 'buy' him. Maybe, Luther was going to buy him. Maybe, Luther had _already _'brought' him. And, for only half the price.

Things were beginning to make sense.

Ryan didn't escape on his own. He didn't take out that device and get knocked out because of something he did. He hadn't gone to earth by shear will. This was all a setup.

Luther _was_ planning on buying him, but from what Ryan could tell, he never planned on paying the whole fee of $50,000,000,000. Instead of paying the Gordanians what he owed, he sent out some K-29 bomb, and knowing Ryan wouldn't waste time escaping from the destruction, set him free. That paper in the Captains Office, whether it was planted or not didn't really matter, was Ryan's driving force. Luther, and whoever else, knew he had nowhere to go. The girl, Starfire, she was his bait.

Ryan had fallen right into Luther's trap. He had taken out that device, like Luther had planned. He had done everything according to his plan, and now, Ryan was sure he was only part of something bigger.

The motive, whatever it was, involved himself, Starfire, and possibly the black-haired boy, Richard.

Ryan, was in some serious trouble.

With shaking hands, he put the red folder back on the table, but something slipped from between the pages and fell back down to the table.

Ryan gently pushed the folder back where he had found it and picked up the square black device that had fallen out. It was shiny. And... black. But that was pretty much all Ryan knew about it. He ran his fingers across what he guessed was the front and the device lit up.

Ryan quickly put it down. The last device he had had had shocked him and nearly killed him. No, he wasn't taking any chances. The device did a little jingle and Ryan resisted the urge to lay on it to try to smother the sound.

_**Ipad Tablet **_popped up on the screen and Ryan had to guess that that was what the device a tablet was, anyway. A document had loaded onto the tablet automatically and Ryan looked carefully at the scribbles and tons of red ink on the screen. He did a double take to be sure, but after some looking, he confirmed that the tablet had all of the information the folder did.

Which was perfect, because Ryan wanted proof that he and Starfire where in danger and taking this tablet would be less noticeable than taking the entire red folder.

He was ready to go now and looking around, he found that the office had no windows or any means of escape. Slipping the tablet down the front of his suite, he made sure it didn't bulge or look too noticeable, and then left the room.

He was feeling sicker than ever, but knew he had to put on a bright face for Luther. The man didn't know Ryan knew the begging of his plot, but Ryan wanted it that way. He needed to get out of this house and find Starfire. She was a earthen hero, right? She'd know what to do.

He was halfway back to the dinning room when Mercy, face scarily stone cold, rounded the corner with a running start. Ryan barely held back the unnerving feeling to turn and run and just settled on taking a few steps back.

He hadn't blinked once before she had his suite in her hand and was dragging him down the hall. He was in trouble. He was in trouble... or he was going to die. One or the other. Maybe Luther didn't need him alive. Maybe he was more valuable dead than alive. He'd have to plead his case. He was prince of something, right? He had money somewhere. Luther was apparently pretty cheap, maybe money would be on Ryan's side.

"Mercy, Mercy." Luther said, with a shake of his head, "Please, let Ryan go. He's our guest."

_Ryan had never told Luther his name. He was such a liar._

"Thank you," Ryan said brightly. "I was just looking for a bathroom."

"Of course," Luther said, throwing his arm over Ryan's shoulder, "No harm done."

Even Ryan, someone with super strength, could feel how tight that grip was. Luther was afraid of what Ryan might have seen. And Ryan was afraid of what Luther might have suspected, Ryan had seen. He had to play it down.

"Your bathrooms are so big," he said, hoping he was spot on, "We barely had anything like this where I came from."

"Only the best," Luther said, leading him down a hall, "I like the gold trimmings, how about you?"

"I didn't notice any gold," Ryan said, hearing the uncertainty in Luther's voice.

It was just like a liar to mention something that wasn't there. Had Ryan of agreed with that statement, he may have been agreeing to something that wasn't there, confirming Luther's suspicion that he hadn't been in the bathroom.

"All the same," Luther said, and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief when Luther sounded more relaxed. "Did you enjoy breakfast?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid I'm not that used to eating so much."

"Apologies," Luther said, opening the door to another room, "I should have only started you off with a little."

"Its alright," Ryan shrugged, "I'd rather eat too much than not at all."

"Well said." Luther said, motioning to a desk that looked just the one Ryan had been snooping around.

In fact, the entire room looked like a duplicate. With the cherry wood furniture and official look, Ryan was glad he had gotten proof with him, because he would have never found that room again.

"Now Ryan," Luther said, "As I said before, I will gladly help you find Starfire."

There was her name again. Ryan just hoped he wasn't her bait like she was his.

"And I am thankful," Ryan said, hoping that uncertainty was hidden in his voice.

"But I must ask you something in return." Luther said. "Its nothing big, just an errand."

His hands were sweating. And he had a chill running down his back. An errand? For someone who tried to kill an entire ship just because he didn't want to pay for something he 'brought'? No, Ryan didn't want to run any errands for this man.

"Of course," he said instead. "Anything."

"Take this," Luther said, putting a brown envelope-like bag in his hands, "I need you to run it to a friend of mine. I'll show you how to get there and how to get back here when your done."

Ryan certainly wasn't coming back here when he finally escaped this place. He looked at the envelope in his hand. It wasn't heavy, and it was thin. Probably had a few sheets of paper in it. But, what did it mean? Was he delivering doom to the people of this planet? Do to his own planet? His sister? Himself? He had no idea what was in store with this simple request.

"Now," Luther said, opening a laptop on his desk, "It's a little far, but your flight will cut off a lot of that time."

"It's no problem," Ryan said, cheerfully. "Where is it I'm going?"

"A little city called Gotham."

* * *

><p>AN: I know that was a lot of info, but they have to get it from somewhere. So, what have we learned? A lot, go back and reread if your lost. Feel free to PM me with questions. I love those, just saying.

**_Read and Review_** if you like magical outcomes coming to your life. Again, magical.

Ignore my rants. Its late and I'm feeling goofy.

LOL.

_ScarletDrake


	21. A Toast To Good Fortune

_Whoa BUDDY, _do I have a long chapter for you guys. No lie, this will take you forever to read. I feel bad for those people who just started reading this story, because **whoa momma!**

Anyway, sorry this took so long. I was busy. Well, not really. But I _was _lazy, so there. Laziness is a disease, so you have to forgive me. Everyone forgives the sick. Its, like, human nature or something.

Anyway, I guess that's all. Ignore typo's. I'll fix them later.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

Panic. Panic. Okay, it was time to panic. And when that didn't fix things, then it was time to panic some more.

"This tall," Victor said, holding his hand a few inches beneath his chest, "Black hair. Big blue eyes. Round face. Loud. Cant miss him."

"Sorry," the nurse said, shaking her head, "I haven't seen him. Is he a patient here?"

"Yes," Victor sighed, "I already told you that."

"I'm calling the police then."

"Sure, go ahead. Call. But they wont come... again."

Victor shook his head, heading back to Tim's room. Tim's _empty_ room.

"Any sign?" Gar asked, when Victor entered. "Alfred said he's not at the manor, and Nick hasn't found anything downtown either."

"Did we check the buildings and patrol sights?" Rachel asked, entering the room.

"Yes," Victor answered her, "But we already found him there. He wouldn't go back."

"We need to call Dick," Rachel said, going into her meditation stance, "We can't just keep pretending like this isn't happening. He'll be mad if we keep this from him."

"Okay," Gar said, "But how-"

"_Shh." _came Rachel's voice in his head, and he allowed her mind to enter his.

It wasn't using a phone or sending a text, but it was the only way they could get in contact.

"Erm... Rachel?" came Dick's voice.

"Rachel, is that you?" came Nick's voice, and she could already see him, perched on some gargoyle, looking confused.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone. Its me. We're all connected." she told them.

"Hello friends!" came Kory's cheerful voice.

A chorus of hellos went up and Rachel merely waited for silence.

"Hey, little lady." Victor said cheerfully. "We missed you. Rachel told us about how you lost your memory and stuff."

"Yeah, dude," Gar added, "Sucks big time."

"I am alright," Kory assured, "A little confused on most things, but Richard is most assuredly filling me in."

"We finished?" Rachel asked, getting mental nods of heads, "Great. Dick, Kory, we called because we have a little problem."

"Yeah," Nick agreed, "Tim's gone."

"What do mean, gone?!" Dick and Kory exclaimed, simultaneously.

"Gone as in run away," Victor clarified, "We can't keep him here in the hospital to save our lives."

"Dude, he's wild. I'm telling you." Gar exclaimed "He acts just like you."

"He tried to escape from the hospital four times. Made it three." Rachel said, proving their points.

"Make that four now," Nick corrected. "He did a good job this time too. I can't find him anywhere."

A mental groan came from Dick.

"Just... keep looking." he said, "He can only go so far, right?"

"Not really," Gar said, "He's just about healed, but the doctors want to keep him another night, just to be sure."

"Then expand your search," Dick said, "Look where you wouldn't normally look. Think 13-ish thoughts. This isn't anything but hide and seek. Think dark places. Shadows. And make sure all the Batmobiles and vehicles are at the cave. I'll kill him if he took one."

"Way ahead of you," Nick said, "Already in route."

"So how 'bout you?" Victor asked, "Heard there was a setback. Hows it going now?"

"We are still trying to complete our original plan," Kory said, "We are also in route to find Adeline. We figure we are close now, so we should be back later today."

"Just hurry, dudes!" Gar cried, "Remember that surprise I had? Well, it has a time limit on it!"

"Man, it just better not be another one of your tofu buffets," Victor gagged, "That was the worst day of my life."

"Dude, you know you loved it."

"Only someone suicidal could love that stuff."

"That's a lie!"

"No it ain't!"

"Yeah it is!"

Dick felt Rachel cut the connection and he rolled his eyes, sitting back in the taxi. It had taken most of the morning to find a road, considering the fact that they _were_ in the middle of nowhere, but with their shields, getting to town was pretty quick.

They asked around for a while, and it seemed that Adeline Kane was actually pretty well-known. The taxi driver knew her personally and was taking them that very moment. Thankfully it was close, too.

Dick looked to Kory, she was twisting the gold key between her fingers, like she had been doing all morning.

"What do you think it opens?" she asked, flipping it around.

"I don't know," he responded, "Maybe a locker or something. It's not normal. So no house key or car key."

He looked at the key over his shoulder. The length of it was circular, like a cylinder and it didn't have any ridges or juts, it was smooth and rounded, instead. Nothing like a normal key.

"Where do you think Tim is?"

She sighed, resting her head back.

"I don't know. He is good at hiding."

"Yeah," he agreed, looking out her window.

"Here we are." the taxi driver said, pulling up to a small ranch house. "Ms. Kane's house. That's 15.95"

Dick paid the money and Kory and him got out.

_Not very big, _Kory observed, and Dick opened his mind to her.

_**No decorations or lawn furniture. **_

_Grass it neatly cut. _

_**Shrubs are kept neat.**_

_Nothing personal about it._

A house said many things about a person. And so far, Adeline's house said that she didn't want to stand out or be noticed. There was nothing about her house that drew attention. It looked like all the other homes and sat plainly. Maybe she was hiding something.

"So, who are we?" Kory asked, referring to their identities.

"Lets just play it cool," Dick told her, "We'll say we're relatives, hoping to find out a little more on our great grandfathers side."

"That's a lot."

"Just follow my lead."

Dick rung the doorbell, then cheerfully rapped on the door. Time to pretend.

Kory was never one to really be good at lying and acting, but being a princess had its advantages. She learned all about face control and learned a good deal about how to read people. If Dick could do most of the talking, she was sure she could follow his lead and play her part.

A woman answered the door. She had black, curly hair that reached just passed her shoulders. She was smiling brightly, wiping her hands on an apron she had on. It was caked with smudges of all kinds of things. The smell of bacon and pancakes wafted out behind her.

Dick _just_ remembered how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten in a great deal of time, his last meal consisting of cookies and milk back at the Odds Family's place.

"I'm Kory," Kory said, snapping him from his food trance, "And this is Richard."

"Yeah," Dick said, shaking his head, "You wouldn't, by chance, be Adeline Kane, would you?"

"That's me-" she said, and before she could really finish the word, Kory had rushed forwards and hugged the woman tightly.

"We have been looking all over for you!" Kory exclaimed.

"Well in that case," the woman laughed, "Come in, please. I just made breakfast."

She stepped back to let them in, and Kory and him shared a look. This was going easier than they had expected. And... they got food in the process.

"I'm afraid I don't recognize you two." Adeline said, leading them to the dinning room table and pulling plates and forks from her cabinets and drawers.

"Don't feel bad," Kory said, "You wouldn't. We're family of Nathaniel Wilson's."

A funny look crossed Adeline's face and Dick didn't fail to take note of it.

"Both... of you?" she asked.

"She's my step sister." Dick explained. "Twice removed."

"We've come all this way to learn more about his side of the family," Kory said.

"A bit of a family tree project."

"I see," she said, placing food on the table, "But I'm afraid I'm not part of that family anymore."

"No," Dick smiled, "But you were married to our three times removed cousin Slade Wilson, Nathaniel's son. And learning about him is just as good, right?"

"I suppose." she said.

_Not very eager_, Kory noticed.

_**Not at all. She's suddenly very conservative.**_

_Are we being too forward?_

_**A little, but anything less might not get us the answers we need. Just keep smiling, and keep asking questions. **_

Dick looked to Kory who nodded her understanding and took a bite of her food.

"How long were you and cousin Slade married?" Kory asked, and Dick could tell she was weaning her way towards the deeper questions.

"Oh, about 5 years," Adeline said, more comfortable with that topic, "We had two kids. Your... three times removed first cousin once removed, I guess. Or something like that. Joey and Grant."

Dick recalled Tim saying something about her having a son. A blond kid with blue eyes.

"But your divorced now, right?" Dick asked, receiving a nod from her. "From the few times I met him, he wasn't all that nice."

"He used to be good with kids," she sighed. "When Grant was born he was so happy. But he started taking these jobs and they changed him."

It would be extremely helpful to figure out what jobs he took. It may just answer one of his biggest questions: who was Slade.

_**We need to know what jobs he took.**_

_How? Do you really think she'll tell us?_

_**Not a chance, but she doesn't have to. We're telepaths, remember?**_

_And you know how to read her mind?_

_**Cant be much harder than reading yours, right?**_

_Perhaps. I will try it, if you get her talking about it again. I have a feeling that will help._

"What kind of jobs did he take?" Dick asked.

"Oh nothing, nothing." she said. "Just, not quite your office job, is all. But he did it because we needed money. He loved us."

_**Anything?**_

_I am not sure. What is a 'mercenary'?_

_**And there's out answer.**_

_Why?_

_**A mercenary is like an assassin. They kill for money.**_

_So, her Slade, is our Slade._

_**Exactly.**_

"And what about Nathaniel," Kory asked, "Were you close?"

"Oh no," Adeline chuckled, "Slade's father was a deadbeat loser. He was on the wrong side of the law. Went a little crazy at the end of his life too."

She still believed Nathaniel was dead. She had no idea his death had been faked and that he was now Gunner Wilson.

"What do you mean, crazy?" he asked.

"Well," she said, "After his house caught fire, they brought him outside and he kept mumbling about his wife, which is very understandable, but he went on and on about killing her. I believed so hard that he had cared for her, too."

If he cared for his wife, why burn her?

"Slade didn't much care for his father and we only saw him probably once a year."

"How did Grant and Joey take it?" Kory asked.

"Oh," she sighed, "Well, Grant had already... died. He died in a freak accident, and Joey didn't much know Nathaniel."

So Grant was dead. How unlikely that it was a freak accident.

"What kind of accident?" he pushed, knowing it was unwanted, but needed.

"He was kidnapped," Adeline sniffed, "Some unfortunate plot to get to my husband."

Now that, Dick believed.

"He was a good boy," Adeline said, dabbing at her eyes, "A good boy."

Kory grabbed her hand, lending comfort and getting a smile from Adeline.

"Okay," she said, smiling, "Anything else, I can answer for you?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO<p>

Ryan was freaking out.

The envelope he had in his hands was crunching under them and it looked as if it had gone through thick fog and some water, but really, he was just _really _sweaty.

And it was because he was **freaking out**.

He had clear instructions on how to get to Gotham and how to get back, but really, he wanted neither. He wanted to drop the manilla folder in the middle of the ocean and make a sharp turn to the right and fly until he couldn't anymore. But he knew he could do that, Luther could track his every move with his suit.

Luther said it was so that he could point Ryan in the right direction, should he get lost, but Ryan knew Luther was still suspicious of him and wanted to keep close tabs on him. And that was why he was flying just how Luther had instructed him to.

Ryan wasn't sure what he would do when he finished the errand. He _refused_ to go back to Luther's and he still had that tablet in his suit with proof. He would simply shed his suit, only, it seemed to be stuck to him. Literally. He couldn't pull it away from his skin. It was like glue. He'd of peeled all his skin off, just trying to remove the suit.

He was flying away from... Metropolis, where Luther lived, but as a city, Gotham, he knew, was seen on the horizon, it was getting darker. They had different time zones, and going at Ryan's speed, it was quite interesting to see the world turn to night so quickly.

It was late twilight when he reached a checkpoint of his search. The top of the GCPD. It was easy to find, the light that was on it was shining a bright bat in the sky. It was kind of hard to miss. Stealthily, he flew down the side of the building to street level.

This was the part he most feared. Seeing other 'humans', more like himself than any other creature he had ever seen. He wasn't used to seeing so many. Luther, himself, and Mercy was it. That was all. He knew, personally, no one else, but suddenly, he was thrown in their midst.

He walked down the street, folder gripped tight and head down. He avoided the streets Luther told him to and went down the ones he was supposed to. Lucky for the both of them, Ryan had an impeccable memory.

He looked up a the green street sign: 7th Street. He was supposed to turn left down this street.

But there was only one streetlights down that street, but it barely lit anything, and the street was so little that no cars could go down. It looked like... what was that word... an alleyway... that was it... it looked more like an alleyway than anything.

Trash cans and trash was lined lazily on the side of the two brick walls. A few cats hissed and made sounds. Big, black, trash bags were torn and something small with a long tail ran by.

Ryan was scarred. The street was so dark, despite the single light, but he was under strict instruction not to show any powers. Luther stretched the meaning that it would mean his life. Not could. Not maybe. Would. Heroes, apparently, weren't welcome in this part of the city. This did nothing to make him feel better. Starfire and him looked very similar, and she was a well-known hero.

"Lost?"

Ryan whipped his head around behind him. He wasn't supposed to talk to anyone, but the voice was close. It was the first bit of recognition he had gotten since he had been here.

"I ask, because you look lost."

Ryan finally spotted the speaker, but only because he had finally shown himself. Ryan figured he could search and search and not see any evidence of the speaker without the speakers permission. The speaker, now revealed to be a boy, walked from the shadows and into that alleyway behind him.

"Cant talk or something?" he asked.

"I'm not supposed to," Ryan said.

Mental slap. He wasn't supposed to be talking.

"Under someones instructions or something?" the boy asked, "It's not like a kid to walk around with a manilla folder."

"Something like that. I can't say." Another mental slap.

"Look, I'm a good guy. If you come with me and tell me whats wrong, I can take you to people who want to help."

"I can't just leave."

"But you want to, right? This isn't some kind of 'prove yourself to the underworld' kind of thing?"

"I... don't think so. I don't want to be here, if that's what you mean."

"Alright great," the boy said, "Then come on, whoever instructed you isn't stronger than me and my friends. Your protected."

The boy turned, prepared to just waltz Ryan and himself away to safety. As if it were that easy. As if all that needed to be done, was to simply turn around and go, but it wasn't that easy. If Ryan could just turn and go, he would have. Long ago, actually.

"I can't go."

"Why not?" he asked, a bit frustrated. "I told you, your protected."

"I'm being watched," Ryan said, motioning to his suit. "Its got trackers all through it, and this folder? It has a tracker in it too. If I don't deliver the folder within my time frame, bad things are going to happen."

"What kind of bad things?"

"I don't know, he just said bad things and I believe him. He's hurt me once before."

The boy walked around in the alley a bit. He passed by the single street light and Ryan finally got a proper look at him.

He had seemed rather imposing when he spoke, but Ryan could now guess that he was no older than Ryan himself. He was fairly short, compared to Ryan and he wore very colorful clothes. He had black hair that look like it hadn't been combs in days, and Ryan knew what that looked like. His own hair resembled it on more than several occasions.

His eyes were covered in a domino mask, and though the one he wore wasn't familiar, Ryan had seen masks quite a bit when he was traded around. The boy wore a black cape, with a yellow-ish underside. But Ryan also noticed small hints of bandages under his clothes. A bulge here, and bit of gauze showing there. Ryan was no expert, but pain he knew. And the boy walked a bit like he was numb, or on painkillers.

"Stop staring at me," the boy said, not even moving to look at Ryan as he watched his own pacing feet. "Whats your time?"

"5:45" Ryan told him, not even sure what that meant.

"That's in 5 minutes. Your gonna have to do this."

Ryan looked to the end of the alleyway. A dark, dirty, brick lay at the back and an even dirtier red door was on it. Ryan was instructed to go inside, but he found he was frozen in his spot.

"Let me take some pictures," the boy said, taking something from a black belt around his waist. "Alarms will probably go off it you open this, but that's okay because this is an x-ray camera."

Ryan didn't know what the boy was talking about, but it didn't matter now because the boy was currently pushing him to the door.

"Just go in there," he said, "Do what your assigned to do and come back out. With a few minutes, I'll be able to hack into your suits frequency and free you, okay? Just whatever you do: **take the money**. Nothing says phony more than someone declining money. Out here, that's all people worry about."

"But... but..." Ryan had no excuses. He just had to suck it up and go into that door.

At least now, he had a semi-friend waiting for him.

Ryan looked behind him one last time, seeing the boy dive behind a trash can, and knocked like he was showed. The door opened slowly and Ryan gulped, going in.

It was so dark that Ryan couldn't see a thing. But he eyes began adjusting and he found that it was probably always this dark. The place smelled like smoke and some other things that probably wasn't good for you. It was loud, too. Screaming and hollering. People cursing and a few loud bangs of something went off every few seconds.

Ryan walked straight back, like he was told to do. He was looking for a Rupert Thorn. A big man, with white hair, and who smoked. That was the description he had to go off of.

Someone grabbed his arm, and Ryan spun around fast. He found, shockingly, that it was a lady so much older than him that it didn't even make sense that she was concerned about him. And despite he old age, she wore practically nothing.

"Aren't you a bit young to be hanging with the big boys?" she asked.

Ryan pulled his arm from his without much strain and tried to continue on his way, only for her to block him again.

"Its alright, you don't have to be scared of me," she smiled, showing only about 3 teeth, "I don't bite."

She grabbed his arm again and leaned close to his face. She reeked of something that had to be making her intoxicated. This close, Ryan could see that she actually had about 5 teeth, total.

Good for her, he guessed, but she was making him uncomfortable now.

"I have the key." he said, the phrase Luther had told him, should anyone here give him a hard time.

The lady let go of his arm and backed away, bumping into what looked like a cross between a crocodile and a man. The thing had been playing something that involved colorful balls and a stick. The stick he had in his hand had run through the green table the balls rolled around on, ripping it.

"Sorry Crocky," she said, but 'Crocky', or whoever, grabbed her with little difficulty and snapped her neck.

It dropped her lifeless body and looked right up into Ryan's eyes. It growled, showing its teeth, and Ryan made a dash for it. This place was a filthy, dirty, dangerous mess. No one cared anything for one another's life. In a way, it was like the Gordanians, but at least Ryan had had bars to separate himself from the things. Here, he was out in the open.

He reached the back of the place and looked frantically for a big man with white hair and who smoked. He saw his target and rushed over to the man. The man looked exactly like Ryan had been described too. He had on a white and black suit and was smoking something _huge._

"Rupert Thorn?" he asked, getting a nod. "I have the key."

Ryan practically shoved the manilla folder in the mans hand. He was close to having a breakdown. It was must've been too small in there. The smoke was getting to him and he couldn't breathe. And something, he wasn't if it was a man or woman, was staring at him uncomfortably. He just wanted to get out of there.

Rupert took the folder and flicked his wrist at a girl beside him. The girl walked up to him, another creepy smile on her face and barely any clothes covering her as well, and put some green stuff in his hand. This had to be the money the boy was talking about.

With a nod, Ryan made a beeline to the door. He didn't have whatever key they were talking about now. He wasn't sure if his lifeline phrase would work anymore.

Thankfully, though, he reached the backdoor without any trouble, or if he had any, he walked right out of it. He threw open the door and rushed outside, a cool breeze greeting him. He took a moment to breathe in the fresher air. Gotham didn't have a great air quality, but it was so much better than that place.

"You do it?" came a voice, and Ryan jumped, seeing the boy come out a shadow from behind him.

"Yes," Ryan said, breathing again, "It is done."

"Well if you can survive that place, than your pretty good. But anyway, I found the frequency and your home free."

"You mean... Luther can't track me anymore?"

"Luther?" the boy asked, "You mean, Lex Luther? He's the one whose got you tagged?"

"No, he's the one whose tracking me. But... now he's not, correct?"

"Correct." the boy said, but his mind clearly wasn't in the answer, "Where are you staying? I'll make sure you get home."

"That's the thing," Ryan said, following the boy who was beginning to leave the alleyway, "I just got to this _planet. _I don't live anywhere. I came here looking for Starfire. I think she and I are related."

The boy leaned forward, looking Ryan right in his face.

"How did I not notice that?" he asked himself. "No matter, then you should come back with me. I know Starfire. She and my brother are... teammates. Their just... teammates."

Ryan really hoped this kid was telling the truth. The last person who said they knew Starfire had him come out here and doing some dirty work. Ryan was done doing favors only to get an inch closer to what he wanted.

"How long till we reach our destination?" Ryan asked, watching a moment as dozens of people passed them by.

"Depends," the boy said, "Can you fly?"

The boy was far too eager, it seemed, to hop on Ryan's back as Ryan lifted into the sky. Ryan had already gathered than humans didn't fly, and he had to say he loved the feeling himself.

In moments Tim had pointed them in what seemed like random directions and they had landed on a big lawn in front of a big house. The boy jumped off Ryan's back with surprising ease, despite looking numb and being covered in bandages.

"Aw man," he complained, crouching on his knees, "Wally's been here."

"Wally?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. My friend. See?" the boy pointed at the grass, which had what looked like deep footprints in them going in a million different directions. "He doesn't wait long."

Ryan stepped in the grass, barely seeing an indent where his foot had left off.

"He must have been here for a long time," Ryan disagreed, "He'd of had to walk in his same steps many times to get that kind of imprint."

"Not Wally," the boy argued, "He's... quick on his feet. He probably ran over and was gone within a few seconds."

Ryan wasn't sure how that was possible, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't know who 'Wally' was and didn't want to insult the boys friend. The boy...

"I never asked your name," Ryan said, and the boy looked mildly startled. "Mine is Ryand'r. Or Ryan, I suppose is more in your language."

The boy silently pointed up at a window and Ryan took the hint, flying them both up. Ryan ended up taking them to a neat room. Blue paint, neat bed, _huge_ library. If Ryan had a room, he'd want it to look just as clean and neat as this one.

"My room," the boy said, closing his window and curtains back.

He flicked on a light and went through some drawers, pulling out some pants and a t-shirt. Without even caring, he stripped down and changed from his colorful clothes into the other clothes. Ryan took that awkward moment to look around some more. A bathroom was attached to the other side of the room. That too was clean, every white tile on the floor sparkling. Every inch of the huge mirror shinning.

"It's not dirty in there is it?" the boy called and Ryan shook his head, forgetting that the boy couldn't see him.

"I wasn't here long," the boy said, fully clothed now and checking in the bathroom to make sure it was clean, "Rachel has this place, like, mentally monitored or something. She found me withing minutes of my being here."

Ryan, again, was confused. He didn't know who Rachel was, and was it a bad thing that she found him? If it was, then why come back here?

The boy had made a complete change of clothes. His colorful cape and clothes were gone, replaced with boring gray sweats and a plain blue t-shirt. His domino mask was gone too, instead bright blue eyes were wide-eyed, but Ryan had a feeling that they were always big like that. Ryan's himself were probably just as big. He looked incredibly pale with the lack of his colors and his dark hair. The boy he... the boy...

"Your name." Ryan pushed. Thinking of him as 'the boy' seemed so impolite. "I never got it."

"My name." the boy repeated. "I'mmmmmmmmmmmm..."

He dragged the last word out so long Ryan was sure he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. But after a moment, he took a deep breath before continuing the _m_ in the word.

Ryan looked at him, his eyes slightly lidded as boredom was creeping in. Luther had given his name easy enough, and Mercy's had been said without a problem either. Why was his name so hard to explain?

Ryan scratched his arm, an itch creeping in, but froze when he realized that the suit moved freely. He wasn't attached to it anymore. When the boy -ugh- broke whatever frequency was attached to the suit, he must have freed Ryan from the suits grasp or stick or whatever held Ryan to it.

Zipping down the front a bit, he pulled the tablet out, inspecting it for any kind of damage.

"Er... Ryan?" the boy asked, watching him oddly. "How many things do you have in there?"

"Just this," Ryan said, turning it on like he remembered.

Looking at the boy, he had struck an image in Ryan's head. Pale skin. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Going through the files in the tablet, Ryan finally found the pictures. He pulled up the same one that had Richard and Kory dressed up, and handed the tablet to the boy.

"You are related?" he asked, and the boy looked up at him with more than a few reasons to be confused.

"Richard Grayson," Ryan clarified, pointing at the screen. "You are related to him, yes?"

"Kinda," the boy answered, "He's my brother. More specifically, my step-brother."

"You... step on him?"

"No," the boy said, smiling a bit, "His... his step-d- erm, his foster dad adopted me."

"I see," Ryan said, nodding, "Like a trade. He is not really your father, nor your brother. Not by blood."

"Just law." the boy said nodding.

"And Koriand'r." Ryan said, pointing again at the picture, "She is your Starfire?"

"Yeah, that's Kory."

Ryan watched the boy press some buttons on the tablet, and more pictures came up. Ryan had no idea how to do that, but he watched as the boy did numerous things, going through files and documents. Clearly, he was good with technology.

"This is Lex Luther's tablet isn't it?"

Ryan nodded, "I took it from his desk in his office."

"Asterous." the boy said, scrolling through some numbers.

Ryan took a seat on the floor, not feeling nearly comfortable sitting on the boys bed. He leaned his head back against the side table, closing his eyes, and just let himself relax for a moment. That feeling of passed danger was setting in and it was making him feel tired.

Something bumped him and he cracked open an eye, seeing the boy sitting next to him. The boys legs were crossed in a way that didn't look comfortable, but his features were relaxed so Ryan let his eyes close again.

"Tim." he said suddenly, and Ryan gave up trying to rest. "My name, is Tim."

Ryan held out his hand respectfully, and Tim shook it graciously.

Ryan tried to look and see what Tim was doing on the tablet, but it seemed as if he were downloading it to some main computer, and Ryan didn't know what computer he was using, so he looked around the room for the 3rd time. Being that close to the floor now, Ryan could see that the room wasn't as spotless as he had thought.

Deep, red stains littered the floor, and though it seemed as if someone had briefly tried to get it up, Ryan recognized that rich color. It was blood.

"What happened to you?" Ryan asked, still staring at the numerous stains on the floor.

"Oh that?" Tim asked, nonchalant, waving a hand "That's just juice."

"No it isn't and your covered in bandages."

Tim looked down at himself, trying in vain to hide any obvious hints of his injuries, but it seemed futile and by time Tim realized that, he seemed frustrated with himself.

"Its nothing, really. I'm fine."

Tim had stopped typing on the tablet, and was just staring at the stains, like Ryan had done moments ago. There was some story behind whatever happened, and though Ryan itched to figure out what it was, he didn't want to pry either. It really was none of his business. He shouldn't have asked in the first place.

"Well..." Tim said, as if Ryan had asked again, "My... my step-dad beat me."

"He _beat_ you?" Ryan asked, a bit shocked.

Tim spoke as if he had no problems. He was clearly confident in himself. Not afraid to voice his opinions. Getting beat though, that was always a problem. And even still, Tim had said it himself, he was a good guy. He had waited for Ryan when Ryan was close to a breakdown. He had given instructions _and _freed Ryan from his suit. He didn't seem like someone who even close to deserved a beating.

"Yeah, but its alright." Tim said, laughing a bit as if it were a bit humorous, but his voice held no mirth "I'm fine. And he's sick. He didn't know what he was doing."

"I think he did."

"Look, I'm fine okay? It doesn't hurt anymore and like I said, my step-dad is sick. He didn't mean it."

"Did you do something wrong?" Ryan asked, scolding himself a second later for prying.

"No," Tim spat, but softened and Ryan realized he wasn't actually angry at him. "Well, you're not from this world, so telling you stuff isn't really like revealing a secret. See, Wally, my step-dad, Bruce, my brothers, his friends, Kory; we're all what you call heroes."

"You help people," Ryan said, letting Tim know he could skip the explanation.

"Right," he continued, "Like I did you tonight. Anyway, a couple of days ago, Bruce and I were taking care of a robbery. One of those simple ones where a guy just breaks in a jewelery store and runs like an idiot. The smart thief's usually just turn themselves in when they see Bruce, so this doesn't normally take long."

Ryan was impressed. He was very familiar with leaders and imposing situations. He knew how to get attention. Respect. Fear. And while he had never used those tactics, he knew it would take some time and a lot of effort to get that kind of regard. To have that much of an effect must make Tim's step-dad a very important, or imposing, figure.

"We had both thought the guy was alone," Tim continued, "But we chased the guy into an alleyway and he had a friend in one of the upper building windows, and the guy opened fire."

A few select terms, like 'open fire', were a bit confusing to Ryan, but he nodded his head anyway.

"Bruce gave me the signal and I went after the guy who had the jewelery, while he went to take out the guy with the gun. Long story short, he got away. Sucker punched me and tossed the bag of jewels down a sewer drain. Bruce was furious at me. I let the crook _and _the jewelery get away."

"Then what happened?" Ryan asked, not even worrying about prying; he was too far deep in the story.

"Then he beat me," Tim said, his voice dropping, "Right there in that alleyway. I was so embarrassed."

Embarrassed? How about hurt. In pain? Guilty? Embarrassment would be the last thing on Ryan's mind. Yes, it would probably be there, but not as a dominant feeling.

Apparently, Bruce was not the paternal type, and Tim was not the kind of person who worried too much about pain. Perhaps he did care what other people thought about him, because if he was embarrassed then he must have cared a lot about what Bruce thought about him. And from that story, Ryan was pretty sure that Bruce didn't deserve that kind of respect. That kind of devotion. Tim didn't need to prove himself to that man and it almost made Ryan mad. He hated people who looked down on others. Who took advantage because they were smarter, or stronger. Be they alien, human, young or old. He had been through that and it hurt to hear others go through it as well.

"But he's sick," Tim said, going back to typing on the tablet "He didn't know what he was doing. Bruce would never hurt me. He cares."

Something in his voice made Ryan feel bad for him. It sounded like he was trying to convince them both of this. How many times had Tim said his step-father was sick? That he didn't mean it? Too many for it not to mean something. Tim was absently defending his father without thought. Like an automatic machine, programmed to do only one job. Trying to get Tim to see that his father was wrong was like trying to get that machine to do something it wasn't programmed to do. It just wouldn't work.

"Ok." Ryan said, sensing their needs of changing the subject.

Tim was glad the subject was dropped. He hadn't said anything about that night to anyone; but he was pretty sure Rachel already knew. She looked at him a little funny and had a weird knowing look to her. But then, she always looked like that.

_You talking about me?_

Tim should have known this was coming. Rachel found him half the time he ran away, and being back in his room, he knew it would only be a matter of time.

_**Just thinking to myself.**_

_You do know you're in trouble, right?_

_**You said that the last few times.**_

_Yeah, but this time Dick knows._

_**Crap.**_

_Yeah, double that crap. Because Nick freaked out a little this time._

_**Then double crap.**_

_Whose there with you? I sense another presence._

_**A friend I ran into. I think it's that kid Luther was going after, he sure enough had him tagged.**_

_You sure?_

_**Positive. Ryan's got a lot of proof here too. I'm looking through some of Luther's files... things are not looking so good.**_

_Dick will want to know this._

_**Already uploading this to the main computer. It'll be done by the time they get back.**_

_Your still in trouble._

_**If I do it neat enough I may get an easier sentence.**_

_Doubt it. He'll kill you._

_**Probably right, but its worth a shot.**_

_Whatever. Look, we're all headed back. You wont stay here and I see no need anyway. Vic will hack the computers and sign you out. I'll finish the healing process myself. Just don't leave the house again. I'll kill you myself if you do._

_**Roger.**_

Rachel dropped from her meditative stance and watched a moment as Nick swung into the hospital window, the dark cloaking him.

"We find him?"

"Yeah," Rachel said, a black shield forming under her. " He's back at the manor. Vic will sign him out. I'm going back."

"What?" Victor exclaimed, "How can you let him off the hook like that? He ran away."

"He wont stay here," Rachel said, allowing Nick to jump on her shield, "He was only supposed to stay until tomorrow anyway. I'll keep an eye on him myself. But this hospital atmosphere is driving me mad. People in Gotham have a lot more problems than people in Jump do. There's a lot of pain in here. Its starting to hurt."

"Lets just go," Gar said, "I'm tired of chasing that kid all over town and he'd just run away again. He's crazy."

"Fine," Victor said, taking hold of Gar's feet as he shifted to a pterodactyl, a flew out the window, "But if he starts bleeding like that again I'm bringing him back."

"And I wont stop you." Rachel said, moving her disk out the window behind them. "It would serve him right to be put back in there."

"I think my punishment will be a bit worse."

Everyone turned their heads to see where that last voice had come from.

"Dick, man." Vic said, "We were starting to wonder when you were coming back. Thought maybe you eloped."

"Greeting friends!" Kory cried making the shield she was on go a little faster to catch up with the others. "We have missed you greatly."

"Planned on stopping in to see Tim," Dick said, "When we saw a pterodactyl fly out a window."

"I didn't sense you near," Rachel said, and Dick could hear a bit of irritation in her voice.

"That block," he explained, "I think we have that mind block thing you put on us."

"Right," she said, nodding her head, "I forgot."

"Find out anything important?" Nick asked, sitting down crossed legged on Rachel's shield.

"The Slade's are the same." Kory mentioned, "But his ex-wife is quite nice and generous."

"She gave up a lot of information." Dick agreed, "But she wasn't as up-to-date as we had hoped. She still though Nathaniel had died in a fire."

"And we ran into a quite interesting family," Kory said, going off of what Dick had told her, "We have acquired a key from them that seems of importance. They were affiliated with Gunner."

"He must have spies all over the place," Victor said, "Way out there? He may be watching us right now."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Nick said, as they approached the manor, "This is Slade we're dealing with. He's always a step ahead. And now it's not just him. It him _and _his dad. That couldn't possibly make things easier for us."

"It would make things easier for us if he could make things easier for us." Gar said as they made their way towards the house.

"What have you found," Kory asked floating off her shield while did leaped off, "You have found out information, too?"

"Gar and I found the nanobots that's controlling Bruce," Nick said, "I've cross referenced the engineering and design and confirmed that it was work of Jervis. I also ran a scan of the poison that killed him; its of Tameranian origin. Hard to come by."

"And I've kept my eye on that Gordanian ship," Victor said as they climbed the front stairs, "All the kids have made it back safely to Tamaran."

"And the boy," Rachel said, "The one Luther was after, he's safe. He's actually right-"

Rachel stopped as the front door was flung open quickly. She wasn't surprised to see Alfred standing there, but she was a little shocked to see that the house was full of people.

"Go through the kitchen," Alfred said, because closing the door back quickly.

"Oh great," Nick sighed, "A dinner party."  
>"Another party?" Garfield asked, "Didn't we just go to one?"<p>

Dick led them all around the house. They had to climb through a big, neatly cut hedge that was shaped into a W. Vines and flowers were intertwined all through the hidden, overgrown path they had to take, so it took a few minutes to try to get through it without getting cut by the thorns on the vines.

"This has actually been a slow week," Dick said, "Usually there are more than one parties in a day. About three dinner parties and probably about five or six big ones that Chris comes to help with."

"Chris is here?" Rachel moaned.

"No," Nick explained, "Like I said, this is just a dinner party. Alfred will pull our clothes for us, but the concept is the same. You still have to mingle with boring people. You still have to smile a lot. And you still have to meet boring old people."

"Will the food be better?" Victor asked, "Because that other party's food was disgusting."

"Alfred's cooking for this," Dick said, "This food will rock your socks. And he knows you're a vegetarian, Gar, so there will be tofu."

Gar did a little dance. "Man, I love Alfred."

"Everyone does," Dick and Nick said simultaneously.

Opening the back door with a hard yank, they all walked into the kitchen, where food was set up all over the counters. Ham and crab-macaroni took up half a table while turkey and shrimp cocktails and jello shots took up the other half. Three whole counters were devoted to desserts, ranging from homemade ice cream to red velvet cupcakes and to freshly baked apple pie that still steamed and left the smell of cinnamon wafting through the air.

"I've died haven't I?" Victor asked, and it took Rachel's powers to get him to stay at bay.

"No touching." she said.

Nick silently taped Gar and a small table and it only took Gar a second to figure out that it was full of tofu.

"Tofu has never looked so beautiful," he cried, "It's not gray and it's not blobby. It's so _colorful _and pretty! Look at all the colors!"

"Yeah grass stain," Victor said, still bound by Rachel, "That almost looks good enough to eat."

"No touching," Dick said, "Alfred can tell if a shrimp has been moved. No dessert if you mess with it before its time."

"Do you think theirs vegetarian dessert?" Gar thought out loud, squealing when Kory pointed to another table set off to the side. "Is that a vegetarian red velvet cupcake? Is that milk-less ice cream? How do you even _do _that?"

"Quiet," Rachel said, following Nick up some back stairs, "We came in the back so that we don't get noticed. You guys yelling will definitely _get _us noticed."

"You know you want some of that food," Garfield said, poking Rachel with his elbow. "You know you want some tofu, Rae. Don't deny it. It'll only make things harder later."

Rachel rolled her eyes but chose not to respond to him. It only encouraged.

"Just change and head down," Dick said, "Smile. Mingle. With any luck, this party will be over by midnight and we can ditch and come up with our next plan."

"Already done," Garfield said, pushing a button on his holograph ring and appearing in a dark blue suit, "I'll just head down and check on that food."

Garfield ran back down the stairs before anyone could object. He hadn't combed his hair or brushed his teeth again, but what did it matter when his mouth would be full of that vegetable salad anyway. He didn't like being in a room full of snobby adults, so he'd probably ditch more than once too, so his hair wasn't really anything to be concerned about. Most of the time, when he actually managed to hold a conversation with an adult, he had no idea what they were talking about. He just ended up nodding and ditching for a good ten or so minutes.

Garfield rushed into the kitchen, but sighed when he saw the it wasn't empty. One of the maids was there stirring some red sauce in a pot. She was dressed rather pretty for a maid, made up in a long black dress and her black hair twisted up in a bun.

Gar turned, deciding to head out and wait for one of his friends to come down, when he remembered something. As far as he knew, Alfred was the only butler there. Knowing that the woman didn't belong in the kitchen, he headed back, seeing that she was still there.

"Hey," he said, prepared to shoo the woman away.

"Oh Garfield," the woman said turning, and Gar saw that it was actually Mrs. Grayson. He had forgotten all about her.

"You look dashing." she said.

"Thanks," Gar said, all at once feeling like he should run from the probable intruder, "You look nice too."

"Just something I threw on," she said, waving her hand, "Where are the boys at? I can't seem to find them."

"Changing. We just got back from the hospital."

"So late?" she asked, "I hate for any of you to travel so late at night."

"We-"

"I know, I know," she cut him off, "Teenagers. You want to do what you want when you want. You don't want an old person like me telling you what to do."

"No, its alright." Gar said, and he actually meant it.

Even if she wasn't really anyone's mother she still acted like one. It seemed like forever since any of them had some kind of parental guidance. They lived on their own. Did what they wanted. Acted how they felt. They screamed and fought with each other. Did whatever they felt like doing, be it sleeping in or working out. It was kind of nice to have a woman take a maternal interest in them. In him.

"Well come help me cook, Garfield." she said, "Alfred is a wonderful cook, but I think his food needs a little more of a woman's touch."

Gar wasn't a woman, but he approached her, cautiously, anyway.

"Dick been out of town?" she asked, casually. "I haven't seen him as much as Nick. His girlfriend either."

Gar swallowed while he stirred the sauce. What should he tell her? That Dick and Kory had gone out looking for clues on Slade and Gunner? The very person who may be behind Mrs. and Mr. Grayson's whole existence?

"They were here," he lied, "They just like their privacy."

"So they _are_ together, huh? Wonder why he didn't tell me."

"No," Gar explained, "Their not. At least, not officially. But they dance around each other all the time. Everyone knows they like each other."

"I guess my baby is the lock and she's the key then."

"Which is funny," Gar chuckled, "Because Kory just found a key. Maybe it goes to his heart."

"A key?" she asked, her voice suddenly serious. Inquiring. Not humorous, like Gar meant it to be. "What kind?"

"Nothing special." Gar said, backtracking, realizing he may have said something that shouldn't have been said, "Like a car key. Or a house key. Probably goes to one of Bruce's motorcycles. You know he has like, 6?"

"Where'd she find the key?" she continued.

Gar ignored her, "I mean, who has that many motorcycles? You know he doesn't name them or anything. He calls them by their numbers. Like 'Alfred, could you get motorcycle number 4, for me?' who does that?"

"Garfield," she snapped, getting his attention, "Where did Kory get that key?"

"She found it in the hallway, upstairs." Gar said, trying to sound nonchalant, "It was just laying there, no biggie."

Mrs. Grayson didn't look convinced though. She looked angry as she stirred the sauce, splashing it up a little and onto her dress.

"I should find my friends," Gar said, excusing himself quickly.

He really hoped he didn't just cause a problem.

"Already causing trouble?"

Gar turned around to Rachel's voice. He should have known she'd be done getting dressed first. She didn't dress to impress. She dressed not to cause attention to herself. Showing up in her leotard or jeans in a party where women wore extravagant gowns would cause more attention to her than she wanted.

But now, she wore a black part dress. It was totally the opposite of what Gar would have expected. The dress was kind of short, coming just below her knees. While it was a halter at the top, right below her waist it poofed out into a big, fluffy, princess like bottom. The bottom was covered in red lace, checkered in the design of roses. She had left her hair alone and the only makeup on her was mascara. She wore black ballet flats. But besides that, she still looked like Rae.

"You look great Rae." he said, and while her face didn't change, she actually got some color to it.

"You look... nice, too." she said, and Gar puffed out his chest a little. She rarely complimented anyone. Let alone him.

"Is Tim coming down?" Gar asked, "He'll help me steal some food."

"No," Rachel said, "Alfred probably wont let him. Half the people in there are going up on the jello shots and the other half are draining their cocktails. I have a feeling Alfred keeps Tim in his room for these types of parties."

"Good for him," Gar sighed.

"You guys are too cute," Victor said, coming up behind him. "Dick and Kory better watch out. More love birds on the way."

"Shut it or I'll shut you," Rachel warned, but her cheeks got a little pinker.

Victor looked similar to Gar himself. A dark blue suite, no tie, no dress shoes, just white sneakers.

Gar glanced behind Victor to see Dick, Nick, and Kory had made their way down as well. Nick and Dick looked exactly the same, in their black suits and, surprise, no ties or dress shoes, but black converses. Kory looked kind of similar to Rachel in her dark green dress and flats. But instead of having a halter, hers was sleeveless, and instead of lace, she had sparkles.

The three of them, being Kory, Dick and Nick, nodded their heads over and the three of them, being Gar, Vic, and Rae nodded back. It was that knowing of acknowledgment. That settling feeling in your mind where you know your not alone. It was that nod of 'hello' and 'I know where you are', that made Gar get that sudden feeling of remembering how much he loved his friends. How even in these kinds of situations and these kinds of days where they had to go around pretending like they were having fun, they were still the same on the inside. Kory would still stick close to Dick. Nick would still roll his eyes when he thought people weren't looking. Vic would still only smile genuinely when there was food in front of him. And Rachel would still look bored, as if the whole situation was pointless. And it wasn't just their attitudes. It was their dress too.

They all looked their part. They weren't as neat and tidy as the adults. Their was no hair gel in their hair. No bow ties, or even ties. Just open jackets and plain white, half tucked in, shirts. And heck, they had on sneakers; no dress shoes. The girls dresses weren't as long or froufrou-ish. They wore minimum makeup. But this was how it was supposed to be. They weren't here to pretend they were adults. They weren't going to pretend like they were having a grand time. They were teens, and their party-looking outfits said just that.

Gar liked this party much better. It was less glamor and glimmer, but it was more of his style. His friends looked like his friends. They acted like his friends. No phony smiles. No long conversations. No unnecessary politeness.

"Alfred's bringing out the appetizers," Vic said, "I'll grab you guys a bite."

He was gone before Gar could insist that he wouldn't eat meat, and he was in the process of going to tell him, when he happened to catch something out the corner of his eye in a nearby window. It was so dark out the windows that he could barely see a thing, still though, there were windows all over the house and in the main party room, so he looked out a few more windows and just happened to catch another bit of movement, at least he thought he did.

"Whats wrong?" Rachel asked, nudging him.

"Someones outside," he explained, "It could be paparazzi, but I don't know."

"I sensed someone too, but being in a room with so many people I wasn't sure. Come here," she said, grabbing his arm and leading him to a nearby and currently empty hallway. "Watch my back."

She let her head drop and her eyes darkened to black. Gar did as he was told, standing in front of her to block the sight of her black eyes. To anyone behind him, he might look like he was talking to her.

"I do sense someone," she said, "No, people. There are people outside. A lot of them. And they don't want pictures... they want... they want Kory."

"Why?" Gar asked, watching as her eyes went back to normal, "What do they want with her?"

"I don't know," she said, "But I've strengthened the bond on her and Dick's mind."

"We got to tell the guys," Gar said, making his way out the hallway.

"Right," she agreed.

They had just made it to where Nick and Kory were talking animatedly about something, and Dick was watching them approach, concern on his face, when the sound of silverware hitting a glass quieted the room.

"Can I have your attention," came the strong voice of Bruce Wayne, "First, I'd like to thank you all for coming to the dinner. Its means a lot to me that you support this new advancement in my weapons department of Wayne Enterprise. Now by now, you've all smelled the food and I wont make you wait any longer to have some. If we could all move to the dinning room, we could begin eating."

"Whats wrong?" Dick asked, when it was noisy enough to speak again, "What happened?"

Rachel could see it all in his face, he had sensed something too. But he wasn't as experienced as her. He didn't know how to interpret those odd feelings to make them make sense. Rachel had been able to channel that energy and find out what caused it, he was just stuck with that feeling of foreboding.

Someone bumped Rachel in their haste to get into the dinning room, and both Gar and Dick had stuck out a hand to steady her. She waved them off, looking to Kory briefly to see a woman push her a bit roughly too.

"This isn't another stampede is it?" she asked, and Dick seemed to look around for the first time.

"We better sit down first," he said after a second, "These people are drunk and hungry. We should get out of doge."

They were all pushed around a bit, but Victor had been waiting for them a few feet ahead and they used his bulk as a bit of shelter. A lot of people just went around him, and that took a lot of the chaos down.

By the time the managed to get to the dinning room, a lot of seats had been filled at the big dinning room table. A few seats were still scattered around, and they all looked at each other before splitting up to get to them.

Dick found himself a few seats away from Gar, but right across from Victor. Kory was out of his sight range, but he felt her down the table to his right. He could see Rachel to the far end of the table near the head, where Bruce was sitting and his brother was at the very end in the opposite direction.

"Weren't even going to say hello, were you?" came a voice and Dick turned to see that somehow, Barbara had managed to secure a seat right next him. He hadn't even known she was there.

"Oh, hey Babs," he said casually, "Whats up?"

"Nothing much. Just filling in for dad. He caught the flu, but wanted people to know he supported Bruce. So, here I am. His kin and social media."

"Tell him I said get better."

"Will do."

_Can you hear me Dick?_

Dick hadn't realized Rachel was trying to get into his mind.

_**Yeah, sorry. I'm open.**_

_Like I said, there are people outside, _Gar said, _Rae and I both noticed them. There's a lot, too._

_**There's no perimeter breech, **_Nick observed, **_Their definitely not invited._**

"Did you hear me, Dick?" Barbara said, unintentionally pulling Dick from the chat, "I said dad really wants you over for dinner."

"I can't," Dick said, his mind opening back up.

_-will do? _Came Vic's voice, _Bruce is too busy with the party. We have to do it on our own._

_**Do what? **_ Dick asked, **_I missed what you said._**

Nick spoke, this time. _**We were going to-**_

"-busy, right? You've got new friends. A girlfriend. Heck, your dead parents are back. You're just as happy as you want to be, right?"

Dick ignored Barbara.

_Richard? _Came Kory's voice _Are you alright?_

Dick's pocket vibrated and three vases on the table burst. Luckily, the people were either too drunk to notice or too happy with Alfred's food. Too much was happening for Dick. He couldn't keep his focus on three different things.

Dick fished out his phone and went to the message he had just gotten.

**Wndw brst up hre. 3 dozen or so blck capes. 2 many. Falling bck.**

That was from Tim. Apparently, their was a break in up stairs and their were a lot of black capes- or villains, most likely with powers.

Dick stood from his chair quickly. He made eye contact with his brother, and Nick had begun to stand to.

"Hey!" someone called, "Dickie wants to make a toast!"

Dick had the sudden urge to sit back down. He didn't want to make a toast, he wanted to go save Tim!

"Go ahead," Barbara said, bitterly loud, "Toast to Bruce."

She even handed him a cup. So she was pissed he was ignoring her, but she didn't need to act like that. She knew him enough to know that he didn't like giving toasts and that he only stood like that in an emergency. He didn't even know what he was toasting to.

But everyone, be they drunk or not, was looking at him, and he had no choice but to take the cup from her. A chair squeaked and he saw Nick try to sneak out, but Bruce cleared his throat and glared, forcing Nick to sit back down.

"Well," he said loudly, looking around nervously, "Again, thank you all for coming."

Dick was trained by Alfred in etiquette and the likes, he made sure to look around and make eye contact with as many people as he could, but looking behind a certain man, he happened to glance out the window behind him. It was dark out and Dick couldn't see a thing outside of it, but he was sure something moved sharply, and Dick had reason to believe that someone was out right at that moment.

"On behalf of my step-father," he said slowly, his eyes still trained outside that window "I think I speak for him as well when I say that working at Wayne Enterprises is a tough line of work, full of much disappointment and criticism."

Dick realized Rachel and Gar's seats were empty and sighed a little to himself when he realized they had gotten away from the table. Rachel may have alerted them of something going on upstairs. Gar may have simply changed into a small animal disappeared while Rachel could have ghosted into the floor.

"It's a rare and beautiful time," he continued, "When Wayne Enterprises gets a success as big as this one. And not by ourselves do we achieve this, I might add."

Behind that man, the window, something was poking underneath it. A few of the guests glasses burst when realization hit Dick. In a quick second, the window was pried open with a crowbar and lifted up, allowing dozens of men to file into the house. Right in front of his eyes. They were all dressed in black, not one inch of them showing any skin. They were in a room separated from the room the men were in only by a short corridor. Anyone could plainly see it. It was all the eyes on him that kept people from seeing that action.

Nick suddenly slipped under the table and a second later he came out on the other side of the table and had jetted down the corridor. A few of the men froze, some of them ran, and a few others ran back out the window. Dick couldn't see all that was happening, but someone slid on his back, back towards the window and a few other guys ran out. So Dick figured Nick was taking care of that problem.

"Many people have added to the success of Wayne Enterprises," Dick continued, not even bothering to look around anymore, "People have put in years and years of work, not just for a paycheck, but for my father."

Dick felt, rather than saw, Kory's version of escaping the table. She merely excused herself and stood from her chair, walking out calmly. Dick followed her with his eyes as she disappeared. Victor took her hint and did the same. A blue and green light lit the room down the corridor and many more guys in black rushed out the window. Thus leaving Dick alone.

"And with that," Dick said, "I'd like to wish not just my father, but the whole company and staff, many more years of success and many more products of good fortune."

Everyone clapped politely and held up their glasses, but Dick didn't even bother. Instead, he speed walked around the table and hurried down the corridor. He could hear, both mentally and out-loud, some murmurs of his odd behavior, but he ignored them.

Reaching the room at the end of the hall, he saw that it was littered with people in black. A few burnt circles in the walls and a broken table, but that was all. Dick wanted to shut the window, but doing that involved walking over to the window, shutting it, _and_ locking it, and that required time. Time Tim may not have had, so he hurried up the stairs instead.

He hadn't made it halfway before the sound of chaos, or battle rather, hit his ears. His mind led him to Kory, but he trusted her enough to take care of herself and instead went towards Tim's room. The boy probably would even be there, as smart as he was and as good as he was with hiding, but Dick had to check first.

He hadn't even made it to the door before a man was into it and threw the door off its hinges and back into a wall. The man slumped back against the door and Dick looked in to see his brother toss another guy out the door.

"Seen Tim?" Dick asked, and Nick shook his head.

"I've searched the room already. Nothing."

"He's not up here," Rachel said, coming up behind them, "I think he's above us."

Dick didn't waste any time going to the nearest staircase and going up another level. He had to say though, this was smart. The level above the rooms was basically a maze. It had few rooms, but it had many long and criss-crossing hallways that were poorly lit. It was a good place to hide.

Nick was right behind him and Victor's loud feet could be heard going up another set of stairs. Raven ghosted herself and Kory through the ceiling and a hawk flew over Dick's head before shifted into Gar.

The moment they all reached to top of the level, Dick gave them the signal to split up. Their mission was to find Tim and get him back to safety. Being a somewhat partner of Batman's, Tim _had_ to know enough to protect himself, but three dozen was a lot to handle on your own and Tim was still so young.

Dick looked down a hallway seeing Rachel pass by, and behind her, down another hallway, Dick could see Nick going the other way. A labyrinth. This whole level was. It was confusing to even Dick. But he shook his head, continuing down the hallway he had chosen. He wasn't planning on turning down any hallways, for fear of going in circles, but a certain hallway called to him and he wasn't about to let this instinct go by.

He walked down the dimly lit hallway, feeling Kory not far from him, probably doing the same things nearby. So gradually that Dick barely noticed, Dick could hear the pounding of numerous footsteps, meaning either a lot of people had recovered, or a whole new batch of black capes were headed their way.

Dick's search got a little more frantic and suddenly, which way his mind wanted him to go didn't really matter. He quickened his step, jogging and whipping his head back and forth for a simple sign that his brother was near.

"Dick."

Dick stopped, skidding forwards just a little bit, and looked far down a hallway and seeing Tim, staring at him. Relief flooded him, and he noticed quickly that a boy, probably no older than Tim, with red hair and from the looks of it, orange skin was with Tim.

"Tim." Dick said, his voice echoed with that of a females and he looked a little further down the hallway to see Kory skidding to a stop.

"Hey." Tim said, waving at the both of them a bit sheepishly.

Dick was in the process of making his way towards the boys when he froze. It wasn't so much as what he felt was happening as what he knew Kory was realizing. It didn't make sense to him. One moment everything was a little better, but the next, Kory, she was changing. Or thinking. Or something was happening. He couldn't explain it.

_**Kory?**_

He tried, but her mind was a blank slate. He looked at her from down the hall. She was frozen stiff, her arms hanging loosely and her mouth slightly agape. She was in shock.

There was a loud bang and something hit the wall beside Dick. Spinning on his heels, he saw that the recovered batch or new batch of men had found them and they had guns. Which was totally new, since he hadn't spotted any guns before.

Focus snapped into place sharply and like always, Dick's hero instincts kicked in. Dodging another bullet, he put a shield up in front of him, protect the boys and Kory. He backed up, trying to get them closer together so that he could try moving them on a shield.

Tim didn't seem alarmed in the least by what was going on. Instead, he seemed to be trying to get his friend out of his own little mind breakdown.

Dick was carefully trying to get as much of a reading on the boy as he could, and at first, he realized little more than the fact that he was clearly Tameranian. But then, looking a little closer, looking at the boys eyes, his skin, his hair, his round face. He realized something; this boy wasn't just a Tameranian. No, he was directly related to Kory. Closely.

"Ryan?" Dick asked, sucking in a breath when the boy looked up at him, "Oh god."

"What?" Tim asked, curiously, "Whats wrong? Whats wrong with Kory?"

Tim ducked down, his hands going over his head as a new round of fire opened, now shooting his shield from all sides. He was surrounded. But Ryan stood, his face barely shifting as he stared at his sister.

Dick just shook his head. What was wrong with Kory? Well simply put, she had recognized her dead brother. It had taken her no time to acknowledge who he was and she had simply shut down. And Dick was sure he couldn't blame her. Loosing a brother, Dick couldn't imagine. Finding out years later that he was alive? Yes, it begged a little bit of a shut down.

Another round of fire opened and Dick found his shield buckle a bit under the pressure.

_**Raven! **_He called, **_I need to go down. I'm surrounded._**

He didn't even get a response as the floor shifted to black and they all fell through. They landed in Tim's room, which was currently in shambles.

The shock of falling through the floor must have shaken Ryan quite a bit because he was no longer in a shell-shocked state. Instead, he looked scared. His eyes wide as he sat on the floor, wondering just where he was and how he had gotten there.

"Rachel can do that," Tim explained, his hand going to Ryan's shoulder for comfort, "We're fine."

Dick found Kory in the same stance he had left her in. Standing. Shocked. A bit confused. Cupping her cheeks in his hands, he pressed his forehead to hers, searching her mind a bit, and pulling her from her stupor. She jolted, as if cold water had been thrown on her while she was asleep.

"_What happened?" _she asked, and he was vaguely aware that she was speaking Tameranian.

"Your fine," he said in English, knowing his Tameranian was as butchered as it got, "Ryan, he's here."

_"But he's dead." _she said, shaking her head, and he felt her drifting, as if she was going back into shock.

"He's not dead." he said, pulling her back from her mind. "He's here. He's confused. And he's afraid. He needs you."

Kory pulled back from him a bit, and he let her go. She watched Ryan a bit, who had gone into an odd version of the fetus position. Tim was trying to talk to him, but he was shaking his head no, like he didn't understand. Which may have been the case. He was new to the planet, after all.  
>"Tim," Dick said, and Tim left Ryan, and went over to him.<p>

Dick led Tim out the room and they stood watch in the hallway, giving Kory at least a little time to reintroduce herself to her brother and maybe get him to calm down.

"The party over?" Tim asked and Dick had to laugh a bit.

"Your really not effected by any of this." he said, earning an odd look from Tim.

"Why would I be effected?"

"Well, we got Ryan in the fetal position. You tell me."

"He's not usually like that," Tim said, motioning behind them, "He's been through a lot too. I think it's just happening too fast."

"And you would know what a Tameranian who just got here has been through."

"I admit it, I don't know nearly any of what he's gone through. But what he has told me is... depressing."

"Fair enough."

Tim opened his mouth to say something, but Dick shushed him. The sound of quick feet were clicking up the stairs. Dick went into a fighting stance, but something was off about that. Tim followed his lead, but Dick dropped the stance and held his hands out, allowing energy to flow.

"What are you doing?" Tim hissed.

"It's not a cape," Dick said, moving Tim's tossed door back into place, "Its Ms. Stevenson. She has to pee."

"What?" Tim asked disbelieving.

"_Move._" Dick hissed, "This level is littered in capes. Push the guys into Nick's room."

Tim snapped to reality, grabbing the nearest unconscious guy and with clear struggling, pulled him into Nick's room. Dick scooped up another dozen or so with his shield and pushed them in as well. Tim cartwheeled out the room, dusting off any dirt and bunching up his clothes where their were rips or tears.

Tim went back to Dick, who uncomfortably began brushing his hair with his hands and trying to get it to stay down. Ms. Stevenson's shadow rounded the corner and Tim plastered on a bright smile. Their was a sudden groan and both Tim and Dick turned to see that they had missed a guy, right behind them. Dick's eyes widened and he and Tim shared a look.

Ms. Stevenson was hurrying by, and Dick dropped to the floor beside the cape and through his arm around the guy. Tim did the same on the other side just in time for Ms. Stevenson to be seen.  
>"Timothy, Nickolas, Richard." she acknowledged, speeding to a nearby bathroom and slamming the door behind her.<p>

The moment things were in the clear, Tim burst out laughing.

"He looks nothing like Nick, not that you could tell."

The guy murmured something again and Dick used his powers to throw the guy into the wall across from them and then stuffed him into Nick's room.

"Your getting pretty good," Tim said, talking about Dick's powers.

"Yeah," he agreed, "I guess I just stopped trying to over think things. Its easier when you just feel."

"Nicks gonna be so mad when he goes to bed tonight."

"He'll see all those bodies and freak out."

"I'm blaming it on you."

"No," Dick argued, "You were party to the madness. It's on you too."

"There you are!"

Dick slouched. He had forgotten about her.

"Ah," Tim whispered, "Your girlfriends here."

Dick made a face and Tim bit his lip, trying not to laugh.

"Is deserting me _fun_ to you? Where on earth were you? You and your friends have some kind of secret meeting or something?"

Tim snickered, and Dick could tell he thought this was all hilarious.

"We were just... chilling." Dick said, "Thought we'd ditch for a while."

Dick looked to Tim, who had curled his lips in, trying hard to hold it in.

"How come I wasn't invited?" Barbara asked, "I can help. Don't you know who I _am_?"

"'Course I do," Dick argued, "But this isn't your fight, Babs. We're figuring this our on our own and we're doing a pretty good job. I appreciate your help, but I don't need it."

She took a step back. "You did _not _go there, Dick." she warned.

Tim stood, running down the hall and Dick swore he saw tears in his eyes. This was _so _not funny, despite what Tim thought. Barbara could be urk-some, but she was still his friend. She _did _actually mean something to him, but as much as it hurt him to hurt her, he didn't want anyone unnecessary getting involved.

"Dick," she said, "I'm gonna forget you said that, okay?"

"Okay." he said, feeling so stupid for saying that.

"Good," she continued, "Now come on, everyone is leaving and your supposed to be at the door saying goodbye. Alfred is furious."

Dick stood and was about to head down, "Wait, I'll meet you down okay. I have something to check."

Barbara was probably in the midst of arguing, but Dick opened Tim door and went in, closing it behind him before she could get in a word.

Kory and Ryan were sitting cross-legged across from each other on the floor. Kory was crying hysterically... but, she looked happy. And just seeing Ryan upright was a step for him.

"I take it all is good?" Dick asked, squatted beside them, "I see we're breathing okay. Eyes are naturally wide now."

He took Kory's chin and turned in various angles, causing her to laugh.

"I'm fine," she waved him off, rolling her eyes, "I was just... shocked."

"And for good reason," Dick said, "I can literally feel how you do. This does bode a bit of a melt down. You were entitled."

Ryan had said something then, but Dick hadn't heard. His mind had gone somewhere else. Standing up slowly, he walked to Tim's window and looked out.

"You alright, Richard?" she asked, walking over to join him. "Whats wrong?"

"Get Ryan out," Dick said, opening the window, "I'll be back."

Dick hoped out the window, not even bothering to create a shield. He had escaped out that house enough times to know how to get down from any window.

Dick expected Kory to do as he told her, but he didn't quite expect for her to meet him down on the ground.

"I'm just looking around," he told her.

"Then I shall too," she said stubbornly, "You sense something, and I shall not let you venture by yourself."

Dick didn't say anything. Trying to get her to go back was like Nick trying to get him to go back. That would never happen. So he opened his mind to her for quick communication and headed towards the gardens.

In the winter, Alfred didn't tend to them much and they tended to be a bit overgrown and unruly. Which is what they were now. Dick fought his way through, helping Kory when he could, heading in a direction he couldn't explain. It may have been to a significant place, and it may not have been. He wasn't sure yet.

Coming out a particularly thick brush, Dick found they had made it to the center of the garden. It was a big clearing here, full of statues and tall trees and stone benches. It was beautiful in the spring and summer, but a bit scary in the winter and at night. The stones statues looked real and haunted. The non-working fountains looked big and imposing. The trees were especially tall and the dead grass added to the atmosphere.

"Someone is here," Kory whispered, her back pressing up against Dick's so that they had less blind spots.

"I know," he told her back, "And now I know who."

"Very impressive Dick," came a deep, mocking voice, "I'm _very_ impressed. Trusting your powers like that took courage for you."

"Where are you, Slade?" Dick growled, his head whipping back and forth, "Come out and fight."

"Oh I have no doubt there will be a fight," he said, "We missed our chance on our last encounter with your little slip."

Kory braced herself. This could potentially be very bad. They were out of ear-shot. Far from their friends and the manor. Tim and Ryan were with Rachel, but should something happen, could she protect them all? Maybe this was a trap. A lure to get her away from her clearly wanted brother. Or maybe Slade really did just want them, because he certainly didn't want to talk.

"Then stop talking and fight me," Dick growled, eager to fight as always.

Slade chuckled, "My boy, you don't even know what you'd be fighting for. Doesn't knowing your prize make you want to protect it that much more?"

"No games," Dick uttered, "Just you and me."

"No," Slade said, showing himself finally by coming out of a shadow and into the moons glow, "You'll need help this time. No more holding back. Perhaps your girlfriend might be of assistance."

"Leave her out of it." he snapped, not even bothering to deny the statement.

"_You _brought her in to it when you allowed her to follow you. You sensed foreboding didn't you? Now you must pay for ignoring it."

_**The moment he charges, run.**_

_No._

Kory said, before blocking him out. She wouldn't run this time. Slade had said it himself, he wasn't holding back this time. Dick, let alone Robin, had never beaten Slade before. Ever. And maybe it was because he always took the man on alone. If Kory were to help in this fight, could they actually win it?

_**This is not up for discussion, **_he pushed in and she was mildly surprised that he had bypassed her block.

_You cannot do this alone. You need my help._

_**You don't understand him like I do. I'm not risking you getting hurt because we think this will work. You run. No questions.**_

_I have no questions to ask, but I do have a statement. I'm not going. And you cannot make me, nor will I oblige or bend to your will._

Dick knew if they kept this up, they'd only get angrier. They'd feed off each others energies and a fight between friends all but blocks out the common enemy. It was dangerous to get upset with her. Because she would only get angrier and therefore so would he.

He had to force himself to calm down.

"Are you two finished?" Slade asked, getting their attention. "I can recognize a mental conversation from a mile away. But I must warn you, I'm not very patient."

Slade circled them, his single eye watching them both carefully. And they watched him back. He got closer with every step in his circle and before they knew it, he was right in front of them.

"Getting thin, aren't we?" Slade asked, grabbing Dick's face and twisted it around before he could object. "Perhaps you should have eaten some more at that party. It wont do if your too weak to fight."

"I'm not weak," Dick spat, snatching his face back, and Kory could feel his irritation bounce off her own emotions.

She worked hard to bite back a rhetorical answer or response to that. Richard wouldn't like that and it would only make Slade angrier. She had to keep her emotions in perspective. Ignore Dick's emotions all together, because playing off of his emotions wouldn't bode well for either of them.

"I beg to differ," Slade continued, continuing his slowly irritating walk around them, "You can't be too tough if you run to your father at the first sign of danger. And days later, you _still _haven't figured out whats going on. What this is all about."

Kory could hear Dick growling deeply. He didn't have a response to that. Neither of them did, well, at least Kory's wasn't a _helpful _response.

"This is how it's always been," Slade said, "You chasing me. Me outsmarting you. I've always been steps ahead, letting you believe I was only a few. It was much more fun to watch you flounder around. Trying to protect what you cared about."

Slade stopped his walk, stopping just in front of Kory.

"It'll be satisfying to see something you love so much die."

"You wont touch her," Dick said, his voice so low she was sure only she could hear him.

Slade chuckled, "Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise."

"And not a very good one. Try having leverage before you threaten, boy. Then maybe people will take you seriously."

"I'm all the leverage you need."

"I'm sure. See, the problem you have, Dick, is that you make more promises than you can keep. You promise your city that you will protect it, and yet, you are ignorant to the crime it is being subjected to at this very moment. You promised your parents before they died that you would do your best in everything that you did, and yet you fail almost daily. And you promise her,"

Kory jumped, Slade's hand grabbed her face, painfully squishing her cheeks together.

"You promise her," he continued, "To protect her. To love her. And yet here she is, staring death in the face."

Kory's face was, disobediently, coloring red, and she knew Dick's face was ruby as well. It wasn't like Slade to say something like this, especially now. Kory was always very aware of her feelings. She wore her heart on her sleeve. She knew she loved Dick. But did he feel that way back? Or was Slade mocking her somehow? It was the strangest thoughts to be having in the midst of battle.

"How does _that _feel?" Slade asked, finally letting her go, "How does it feel to let her down?"

"Anything akin to how it must have felt to let Grant down."

Kory's eyes widened. She bit her lip. She bit it so hard she felt it begin to bleed. She had said that, hadn't she? She had not only _insulted _Slade, but she spoken about his past. Let the kitten out of the bag. He knew now, that they knew who he was.

_**Oh, Kory. **_Dick sighed and she couldn't help a little tremor go through her.

She had taken her own anger, plus Dick's, and totally went awol. She was in trouble.

"What was that?" Slade asked, taking a step towards her.

Back to back aside, Dick was now protectively in front of her. His arm was out and she knew he felt as if he needed to explain her. He wanted to make an excuse for her. Claim she was ill. Mental. Unable to think clearly. Delusional. Because as much as Dick may have hated it, he didn't deny it. He was, to a degree, afraid of Slade. Afraid of all he could do. And Kory had just given him an invitation to attack. To kill her.

"She didn't mean that," Dick said, explaining like the knew he would, "Your fight is with me. Not her."

"No," Slade said, his voice frightenly calm, "I heard what she said."

"Just ignore it," Dick cried, nearly pleaded, "Just... just take it out on me."

"I plan to."

Without a moments notice, Slade had sprung, seeing the unnecessary-ness in prolonging any longer. Kory didn't have time to turn. To run. To do anything. Dick had been better prepared though, as he had caught the first punch in both of his hands, but instead of Slade retreated from the failed hit to go for another, he put most of his strength into his current punch.

Kory could see Dick's arms strain under Slade's pressure and in an instant, Slade had overpowered Dick and Dick had flown back, throwing them both to the ground. She heard Dick grunt, but quickly shake it off as he hoped up. Jumping up herself, she came face to face with Dick, but he wasn't looking directly at her.

Kory couldn't see Slade, and Dick was looking behind her, so she closed her eyes. He was there. Right behind her. Probably with some gun or pointy stick, ready to kill her. Her concentration was shot and all over the place, she doubted she could make a shield even if she wanted to. She was just too afraid, and like she had thought earlier, she wore her heart and emotions on her sleeve.

Death didn't come instantly, like Kory had thought. Instead, she was snatched off the ground backwards and she felt a strong arm wrap around her neck. Her hands went up to the arm automatically, but she didn't claw or try to beat Slade's arm away. She knew it was pointless. He was much to strong.

"Tell her," Slade said, his voice dangerously low. "Let her know how you really feel."

Slade was talking to Dick. He still had that bewildered, not quite sure what was happening, look on his face and Kory mimicked it. What was Slade getting at?

"Tell her!" Slade roared, "I wont kill her until I know it will hurt you the most. Tell her you love her. And I want honesty."

Kory felt a tear roll down her cheek. This wasn't fair. To either of them. And she couldn't even defend herself. Not with her words, because she had none, and not physically, because she was immobilized.

"Kory," Dick started, his voice shaking and she knew he was afraid for her. Of what might happen, because that single word sent millions of thoughts from him into her mind, "I..."

Kory let out a breathless scream, as Slade's grip tightened. "Time, Dick. Time. She doesn't have much of it."

"Kory, I love you." he choked out, and his voice hitched in such a way that Kory just let out her tears.

It wasn't fair.

"Good." Slade said, and she knew, or maybe felt, that he was going to kill her then. She closed her eyes tightly.

But something stopped him. She felt his muscles clench and strain, but his grip never got any tighter. She opened her eyes, seeing Slade's arm engulfed in a white light. She looked up, seeing Dick, his eyes glowing white, his hands glowing green. And even odder, his hair moved as if wind was blowing it back, but Kory felt nothing. She wasn't sure how he projected that energy the way he had. Their was no clear lineage from his hands to Slade's arm. He was somehow _creating _it in a different spot. That was something Rachel did.

But his hair, even from where she was, she could see, the roots were red. Bright, vibrant red. He had told her hair had don't the same thing, only black. But she had been emotional when it had happened to her. She had been afraid and confused. And it had just been her roots. It wasn't just his roots. Stripes lined his hair. All through it, red, angry streaks.

Maybe this happened to him too. Maybe their emotions were playing off each other harder than they had thought. Because if his face said anything to her, it was that he was angry. _Very_ angry.

Slade grunted under the strain of freeing his arm, but Dick didn't look a bit like he was struggling. With a twitch of Dick's head, Slade's arm was pulled from Kory and she dropped to the ground, seeing out her peripheral Slade being tossed far back.

Dick dropped too and Kory felt his exhaustion. That simple move had taken a lot out of him. He was strong, but not that strong, and neither of them had meditated in a while. But Kory sat up and Dick army crawled to her. The red streaks was suddenly gone from his hair and he looked more tired than angry.

"I'm okay," she said, knowing she had answered about four of questions right there. "Are you?"

He didn't respond and honestly, she didn't expect him to. Instead of talking, he stood up, pulling her up too.

"If we're gonna do this," he said, "We have to work in sync. Keep your mind open, it'll only take him a moment to get back here."

Kory would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. She had never fought Slade before. She had never fought anyone big like that with Dick period. Dick normally liked having his own enemies to fight. He didn't want to have to worry about accidentally kicking one of his friends in the face. He wanted to give his all without complications.

This would be new for the both of them.

There was a distant yell, and Kory took a deep breath. Slade was _beyond_ furious. It would take more than just skills and powers for this fight, Kory knew. She'd have to think like Dick. Fight like him. Move like him. She wasn't strong anymore, so she'd have to dodge like him too. Even more so, actually. Slade was no ordinary human being. He had extraordinary skills too.

"You ready?" Dick asked going into a fighting stance as Slade appeared at the edge of the garden, fuming.

"I am." Kory said, mimicking his stance.

Because she knew, this fight would be one for the books.

* * *

><p>AN: Good grief that was long. My fingers **_ACHE!_**Seriously. They burn. I'll have to, like, soak them in ice water or something. And then Bryce, my bro, will have to type for me and write my homework and... you know what... that doesn't sound too bad. Hehe, maybe that's a good idea. Hehe. Hehehehehehehe.

Ooooookkkkkk.

Like I said, I get crazy in the mornings. It's 12 (which isn't that late for me) but whatever. Whoooooooo! Yeah!

You know what, I better just quite while im ahead.

Night. Or morning. Whenever you read this.

**_Read and_**_** Review.**_

_ScarletDrake


	22. Lock and Key

Ello all you peoples.

Kicking out another chapter. Yadda yadda. Not feeling very chatty.

Enjoy.

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

_**Stay ready.**_

Kory got into her position. She'd be lying big time if she said she wasn't scared. This was Slade, _Slade, _that they were fighting. The man beat Robin senseless every time he saw them. He took out Robin _and _Blue Jay on more than three occasions. What could Kory do that was better than Nick? He could out-beat her without even trying. And now, she was somehow supposed to help take out Slade?

She was really second guessing her hardheadedness, especially since Richard had tried to send her away.

But no. She could never just leave Richard here to fight alone. She just couldn't.

The figure that was Slade stood menacingly by the dark shrubs and woods-looking trees. But slowly, he began his trudge towards him. Kory couldn't get a good enough lock on his emotions to be helpful, but she was pretty sure she sensed... shame in his walk? Was he embarrassed?

That _could_ be a good thing. It may kind of get him off his game, but then again, he may just fight harder.

_**Stop twitching, **_came Dick's voice, **_you're giving yourself away. He reads body language and if you can't stand still he'll go for you first and use you against me._**

And it was back to hero Dick. No nonsense or play. No smile of encouragement. No comforting words. The only time he'd speak was to show her an opening he created or someway to protect herself better. Or like now, tell her to stop doing something wrong.

_I'm sorry. I'm fine._

She said, a little upset with his choice of words to her. He knew how she was feeling and a little remark like, 'we'll win this', or 'we'll be fine' or even a 'just follow my lead' would have really made the difference to her. But no, hero-Dick didn't say things like that. He only said 'cover me from the right' and 'pay attention' and 'I'll distract him, go for the chest'.

But should she expect that kind of behavior from him right now? Perhaps it wasn't fair. He, too, had been thoroughly embarrassed. Her too, for all that mattered.

She knew how she felt for Richard. Knew _very_ hard that he meant more to her than the earth's sun itself. But she hadn't known a thing about how he felt. Her own emotions were confusing enough, and it just seemed wrong to try to read his emotions on top of that. That would only complicate things more.

But to be forced to say he loved her?

That was just cruel.

Because she sensed him. Sensed how he felt. How his emotions shifted. How his fear dominated. How he meant it. He did. And that may have been what had brought so many tears to her eyes. He couldn't deny it now, though she knew he may try. But now it was out in the open. Out in _their _open, and he had nothing to hide behind. He was naturally shy and to have something so personal out could do more damage to him than would seem normal. That little world they went to when they meditated, it would be a little awkward for a while. That place they went to was clear. It was calm. Reading him was so much easier in their than it was out in the real world. He probably wouldn't be ready for that kind of invasion anytime soon.

_**What are you thinking about?**_

… _Nothing._

_**Exactly. You should be focusing.**_

_I am._

_**No your not.**_

She mentally sighed at him. Even her thoughts weren't private. Even if he didn't know exactly what she was thinking about, she knew he had to at least have an idea. She had to face it, her thoughts were his now, too.

_**Focus.**_

Right. Focus. Hero-Dick was here, not Richard. Irritating him wouldn't do neither or them any good, and she knew she had to stay calm or she might end up doing something incredibly stupid. Like blurt out to Slade about his dead son.

That, was so stupid of her.

_**Kory-**_

_I'm focused, I'm focused._

She trained her eyes on Slade. She needed to stay focused, and looking at the enemy was a start. He was much closer now, only a few feet away, starting that slow, taunting, circle of his.

_**It's a tactic, **_Dick cut in, **_He'll do it to catch his breath in the middle of a fight. To annoy me and get me off my game. To observe and try to find a new approach to fighting me. When we start, do not let him circle. It may mean he's getting tired._**

_But I thought he had enhanced endurance. How long would it take to tire him out?_

_**Not sure, but he's not as young as us either. He's more than half our age. He's well into his 40's. **_

That was good information. With enough jumping around and dodging, Kory was sure they could at least tire him out a little.

"Talking about me?" Slade said for the first time since he returned.

"Don't flatter yourself," Dick said, putting himself in Slade's makeshift circle and walking around the man.

Kory debated following Dick in the circle-walk, but decided against it and stepped back a little, beginning her own circle in the opposite direction.

"So your really going to do it?" Slade asked, his eyes flicking to Kory. "Your going to let her fight me."

"Don't underestimate me." Kory said, her eyes narrowing. "You have no idea what I can do."

"On the contrary, my dear," he returned, "I know more about you than you do yourself. I know what you can and cant do. And you _cant_ beat me. Not even if you had the rest of the titans join you."

"You wanna bet?" Dick asked, his walking getting a little faster.

"No reason to," Slade said, "I didn't come here to fight, although I did expect it to get what I wanted."

"And what, pray tell," Dick mocked, "could you possibly want from us?"

Slade stopped in his tracks, halting the circling that was going on, and cast a look at Kory. She struggled with all of her might not to flinch or falter in her steps. What could Slade want from her? Besides, of course, her life.

"Think back," Slade said, looking as if he would tell some story, "Not too long ago from tonight, actually, you were both in a plane accident. Without shelter, and might I add, each other, you were both near helpless."

_**Get on with it**_, came Dick's voice and she knew then that Slade was dragging the story out on purpose; just to annoy them.

"That night you ran out the house," he continued, "And took shelter in the woods, there was an explosion. Punishment for a failed job-"

Kory felt her heart speed up. Punishment? That entire family had died... as a punishment. That wasn't punishment. That was an extreme penalty! She couldn't believe that she had spoken to that dieing girl, because she hadn't finished a stupid job.

"-And you found something that belongs to me."

_**Kory, **_came Dick's voice.

"And I think," Slade said, dropping into a fighting stance.

_**Where's that key?**_

"That's it's about time,"

_**Please tell me you don't have it with you.**_

"That I take it,"

_**Please tell me it's somewhere hidden at the manor.**_

"Back."

Kory could barely interpret both boys words at the same time. But she _did_ interpret the way Slade didn't even ask for the key. Instead, he lunged at her; fists out and angry, prepared to simply take the key from her.

He came at her so fast, and being only feet away, she could barely understand what was happening, but hero-Dick was here and he had been waiting.

Dick slid in front of her with practiced ease and caught Slade's fist in his own hand, simultaneously kicking his leg up in hopes of getting Slade in the solar plexus. But Slade used his other hand to catch Dick's foot and twisted it, pushing it and him back.

_**Get it together, **_he snapped.

Kory snapped back to attention. She shook that horrific image of Slade rushing at her from her mind and rushed at Slade from his other side.

Dick had used being pushed back to spin hard on his left foot and came back at Slade with his right foot, nipping the man on the corner of his mask. Slade had dodged back far from Dick, to avoid the brunt of kick, but Kory had thrown up her own leg and got Slade in the back of his head when he leaned back.

A feeling of high elation hit her when she had made contact with his head. That is until Dick said, _**Don't get cocky. He shakes these hits off like Batman. **_

Batman. _The _Batman. Suddenly, Slade wasn't just an amazing fighter and enhanced ex-soldier. But now, he was Batman. Dick really needed to learn how _not_ to psyche her out in a fight.

She knew Slade hadn't expected her to just jump in, so her hit may have been a lucky one, but she was on her game now. Dick through a series of more punches, Slade blocking them all, but being forced to back up. Kory tried to get in another kick, knowing her arms weren't strong enough to do any lasting damage, but her foot was somehow deflected. Time and time again, too.

Nothing they were doing was working. Her legs just weren't fast enough to hit him, and though her arms were faster, they weren't as strong as her legs, and did practically nothing at all to him. Dick was doing all of the work, and even he was getting no where. And worst off, Slade wasn't even breaking a sweat.

Slade turned to his side, half facing Dick and half facing her. Dick continued his barrage of punches, but Slade blocked them all one handedly. Knowing she wouldn't be able to get in another good kick while he was paying more attention, she decided she'd follow Dick's lead in punching. Punching him lightly was better than not hitting him at all. Maybe she could simply annoy him and create a distraction while Dick got in the better hits.

She didn't have much strength, but she knew _where_ to hit to cause the most damage, and that was nearly just as good. She waited for a particularly close call of Dick, one where Slade had to lean further back, before she sent a fist flying, aimed at the side of Slade's face.

Slade reached his hand up, grabbing her fist, and merely held it a moment while he one handedly blocked Dick's punches. Not liking her position _or _being immobilized, she allowed a shield to form around her fingers and pushed the energy out, forcing Slade to let her go.

See sensed a pang of surprise from him, and suddenly, she had an idea.

She allowed energy to flow through her hands again. She knew this close she couldn't throw any starbolts, throwing them from a distance might hurt Richard, and Slade would never allow her to burn him with a starbolt that close, but she had more powers than that. Her hands glowed white and she allowed the shields energy to coat all the way up to her forearms, where most of her blocking would occur. She looked as if she had on glowing white gloves, but she knew that if things got too dangerous, she could push the energy out in an explosion and buy herself time.

She may not have been strong, but her shield was, and by coating her hands with it, her punches could really do some damage.

She got her chance when Dick threw a surprise maneuver, leaving himself wide open on purpose and allowing Slade to finally throw a punch, only for Dick to dodge it and clip Slade in the chest as the man realized the maneuver late and threw himself back to avoid it. Throwing himself back put him off-balance enough for Kory to throw her punch, hitting him square in the jaw.

She actually managed to knock him to the ground, but he spun and got up with so much ease that it didn't even seem like she did anything. Just like Batman. But she saw his mask shift a little and she knew he was moving his jaw around trying to stop the numbness from spreading.

Dick and her shared a glance, and suddenly, his hands were coated in white too.

Slade's eye narrowed and he took an embarrassing step back and began to circle. A mental scoff came from Dick and they both hurled themselves at Slade, knowing his tactic. Both coming at Slade from the same angle, he had no choice but to take another step back.

A kind of dance began to form. Dick took the lead role, his higher level of muscle and agility giving him needed vantage. He took a lot of jabs close to Slade's face and chest, making a lot, but getting blocked more. But Kory was allowed to take up the slack. Throwing her onslaught of hits towards Slade's stomach, occasionally trying to sweep his feet. She made sure that any hits Slade decided to throw where thoroughly blocked by a white shield or a fire-lit hand, so that Dick didn't need to slow down for anything.

Kory kicked out her foot, finally catching Slade in the stomach, and by chance, Dick managed to get a good hit to Slade's face as well, a loud cracking sound emanating all around.

Slade flew back, the force too strong for him to simply roll off, but jumped up quickly, all the same. Kory steeled her nerves. She had heard that cracking sound once before and knew she was in for an odd surprise.

Sure enough, Slade's mask lay in shambles in the dead grass, Dick's power-coated hands having shattered it to bits and pieces.

The man before her, the one with an aged white ponytail and eye-patch. The one who stood tall, but still showed advancing years. He was both more scary without the mask, and less scary as well. His face showed more emotion. More anger. And hate. And loathing. But all Kory had to do to get over it was look at his white hair. Remind herself that despite his tests and skills, he was still human. He was actually beatable.

"Ready to give in Slade?" Dick asked, his smirking tone that of Richards and less of his hero persona.

Slade said nothing, but his eye, his very gray, very scary, and very threatening eye of his narrowed. It showed more abhorrence and disgust than Kory had ever seen in a human. Slade would not let this go. Not easily. And not soon. But she sensed an end. An end to their fight. And she watched, almost in slow motion as Slade pulled something from his sleeve and threw it at the ground.

A bright light erupted and Kory and Dick merely threw up a shield to block the harsh light. And somehow, not turning away and shielding her eyes like a child would felt good. Like they were better than that. Like they were above his tricks.

"We can go after him," Dick said, a hidden smudge of mirth in his voice, "I can sense him. We could find him."  
>"I think we ought to get back," Kory said. "We know what he's after now. We should try to put together more pieces of our puzzle."<p>

Dick nodded, but he had a smile on his face that Kory couldn't ignore and couldn't help but imitate. They had beaten Slade. Perhaps not in the war, but certainly in the battle, and that, was a first.

They were making their way back, when not even Kory, could have predicted what Dick did next.

Like something out of a lifetime action movie.

As casually as if he did it everyday.

He took her hand.

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

Ryan was smushed.

Between Victor's big form and Garfield, who knew no boundaries of personal space, he was smashed in the middle. The couch wasn't very big as it was, just exceeding a love seat. But somehow, the three of them, plus Nick, plus Rachel (who looked unhappy that Gar wasn't letting her up without pouting and screaming), and plus Tim managed to squeeze onto it. But Ryan didn't mind. This was the first physical, and nonviolent, contact he had ever had. Besides, he was having fun.

"And this is us after our first fight with Mumbo Jumobo," Gar said, pointing at a holographic picture Victor had pulled up on his still holographic arm, "Look how short I was compared to Rachel!"

Ryan stared hard at the redhead in the picture. All smiles as she smiled at whoever had taken the picture. She was proud of herself, and he was proud of her himself. She had done the same thing he had. Escaped. And not only that, but she found a planet where she was excepted. Loved and appreciated. She found friends and a way to help people. She did just what he had wanted himself.

"Oh look at this," Victor laughed, "This was when we first got Silkie, our pet! Gar had tried to hide him with Kory," Victor explained.

Ryan laughed a little as he looked with odd fascination at the picture portrayed: a green Garfield with red cheeks holding the even weirder animal in his arms.

"I presume we are ready?" came the voice Ryan was getting to know as Alfred's.

The man held the grace of royalty. Ryan wasn't sure why he allowed himself to work so low on the social system. He could run something much more important, but he pushed the thought aside and stood up like everyone else.

Alfred was handing out brooms and mops and dustpans and rags. He said he would normally do this himself, but since their were young and perfectly capable of cleaning teens in the house, they had to help. Not to mention the fact that they had caused quite a mess, with still unconscious bodies littering the floor and holes and burn marks in the walls.

Ryan was handed a rag and he set to work trying to wipe blood stains and dirt off the walls, Tim coming behind him with paint to go over the spots with.

"I've got copies of all of those pictures," Tim said, working, "And mine are HD."

Ryan wasn't sure what HD was, but he nodded his head anyway. He watched with a raised eyebrow, as he saw Tim give an uncertain look around.

"You see Rachel anywhere?" Tim asked, and Ryan shook his head. "Ok, then we can talk."

"About what?" Ryan asked, softening his scrubbing when the sheet-rock began to give.

"About tonight." Tim said, "You remember the footprints we saw out front?"

"Yeah, you said they were your friend's."

"Yeah, their Wally's. Anyway, tonight his parents are going out to dinner and their going to this old people movie that's in black and white. They wont be home until _way_ late. I looked up the movie and its literally _hours _long."

"So?"

"_So, _Wally's too old to have a babysitter, so they're letting him stay home alone."

"What does that have to do with us?"  
>"Everything!" Tim screeched, but quickly began painting when he saw that Victor looked over.<p>

"Everything," he said again, lower, when Victor turned away, "Wally's a hero like us, and I know for a fact that the titans and Bruce are going out on patrol tonight, so essentially, we're home alone too. We should all go out and do something. Something heroic."

"But I'm not a hero," Ryan objected, moving to the next stain, "I don't even know if I'm welcome in Gotham. Besides, any attention I may cause could alert Luther of where I am."

"Forget Luther," Tim pushed, "Your protected, remember? Just come along. It'll be fun. We'll save a lot of people and put some in jail. I'll even get you a cheese dog while we're out."

"Cheese?" Ryan asked and Tim knew he had him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

"Aw, c'mon Rachel," Vic said, picking up the dust and dirt he swept, "Their boys. They'll always be up to something."

"True," Rachel said, using her powers to wash and dry the dishes, "But Tim isn't your average boy. And Ryan is naïve. Them two together isn't a very good combination."

"Whats the worse they can do?" Garfield asked, wiping the counters down with soap and water, "Even when Tim ran away from the hospital the worse he did was put a few criminals in jail."

"He still ran away," Rachel said, "And he's not supposed to take on criminals by himself. Its dangerous here in Gotham."

"But he grew up here," Vic objected, "To us it may be horrible, but to him, this is normal."

"Look," Rachel said, putting away the last of the dishes, "I'm not saying their trying to overrun the city, I'm just saying their up to something. Nothing else. End of story."

"We'll just keep an eye on them," Nick said, entering the room with bags of trash. "It's really all we can do."

Vic nodded his head, and they continued to finish cleaning.

"Hey," Gar said, suddenly, "We're the only ones cleaning. Where are Kory and Dick?"

"Here!" came Kory's cheerful voice.

"You two look horrible," Rachel observed, seeing their dirt and mud-covered clothes.

"A little wrestling?" Gar asked, his eyebrows wiggling, and while that wasn't true in the sense that he made and Kory brushed it off without a thought, Dick's face turned bright red.

"Leave him alone," Nick said casually, going to his brothers rescue. "I'm sure they have a reason that they ditched the rest of the party. We _did _have a little interruption."

"Suuuuuuure," Vic and Gar chorused, receiving a smack on the head by Rachel.

"Actually," Dick pipped up, "We ran into Slade."

The noise of work immediately stopped and everyone gathered around Dick and Kory, as if they were prepared to tell them the secrets of the world.

"What did he want?" Rachel asked.

"How long ago was this?" Nick asked.

"Duuuuude," Gar whined.

"Why didn't you phone for help?" Vic cut in.

"Didn't need it." Dick shrugged and their was a collective gasp.

"Didn't need it?" Gar questioned, "Dude, how could you say you didn't need it? Hello? This is Slade we're talking about, remember?"

"We were quiet victorious actually," Kory added. "Though I believe I may have angered him quite a bit."

It was quiet for a moment and then suddenly, Gar _whooped _loudly and Victor bellowed _Booyah! _

"You serious?" Nick asked, slugging his brothers shoulder and smiling. "You really beat him?"

"Sent him running to the hills." Dick laughed.

"What did you do?" Rachel asked, suspicion in her voice, but an undeniable amount of hilarity too.

"I punched him in the face," Dick said, and Victor slapped his back heartily.

"Punched who in the face?" Tim asked, coming into the room.

"Slade." they chorused, and Tim raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that that guy?" Tim asked.

"Yup," Gar said, knowing they meant the same one.

"Cool."

Tim set his paint and brush down by the kitchens back door and joined the mini celebration. Gar _insisted _that they toast cupcakes to the win and passed the leftovers around.

"Why are we celebrating?" Ryan whispered to Kory when she left Dick's side to stand beside him.

"It is like a _Lupta Castigat,_" she said, "A battle won. Tonight we have beaten a great foe. So we celebrate."

She smiled at him, pleased to see him smile back. He truly was an and'r. Her brother. She could see it all in his face. In his eyes. His skin. His hair. Though Tameranians all shared similar appearances, the and'r's always looked a little different to her, and Ryan was no exception.

It would take time for them to truly act the sibling part, she knew, but for now she was just satisfied knowing his was alive. Actually, she was _beyond _ecstatic knowing he was alive. It made her life that much brighter and happier. She couldn't wait to truly get to know him, as well as her friends. She knew they'd love him.

Suddenly, Kory sensed a presence. A presence that she had been dreading for a while now. She had totally zoned out before the fundraiser party had even begun. She missed the chance to meet Barbara's long-lost beau. Her new friend would be furious with her.

"Another party, huh?"

Kory didn't need to turn around to know the voice belonged to Barbara.

"Wanna cupcake?" Garfield asked with enthusiasm, "We're celebrating!"

"I can see," she said, making her way over, "But no thanks on the sweets."

"We were about to head down to the cave," Dick said, getting a complaining look from Gar.

"I figured with the little showdown, tonight. I'm coming with."

Dick didn't object because he knew it was no use. Instead, he put up mental walls on his mind as he led them all towards the clock in the living room, allowing it to open and grant them entrance to the stairs.

Their were about three or four different stories going around about what happened the night of the fundraiser, and nearly all of his friends knew a different version. Kory, Gar, and Vic believed Kory was knocked out by a waiter's tray. Rachel knew the whole truth. Nick could simply look at Dick and knew more happened than he told. Barbara had seen _and _talked to Kory, so she knew his whole made up story was bogus. And Tim knew nothing at all.

And he was the one that would get the sour end of this all.

He knew he'd have to tell Kory the truth eventually, but even now, as he struggled to hold his mental walls up against her curious mind, he knew he couldn't last much longer.

"So," Barbara said as they reached the cave and went to the computer, "I'm guessing those guys who came weren't on the guess list."

"Rachel says they were after Kory," Gar pipped up, quickly claiming one of the three swivel chairs. "But the guys who came didn't even pay her any mind. They just trashed the upstairs."

"That's because it was Slade's job to get her," Dick said, starting up the computer, "He was looking for the key."  
>"Which he failed at getting," Victor added merrily.<p>

"But what's the key for?" Nick asked aloud, knowing there wasn't much of an answer to get.

At the sound of the word _key, _Dick felt two minds slink back a bit, as if the two suddenly put up walls.

Rachel looked at Dick, and then the both of them looked at Kory. Kory merely looked to her brother, one of the two slinking minds.

"Tim," Dick said, spinning around to face the boy in his chair, "What do you know about this?"

"You too, Ryan." Kory added.

Tim paled a bit, everyone's eyes suddenly going to him and Ryan.

"Stop picking on him," Barbara said, putting her arm around Tim's shoulder, "Who says he knows anything? I suggest you-"

"Shut up," Rachel said, dismissing the girl instantly. "Tim, what do you know?"

"See," Tim laughed nervously, "What had happened was-"

"The ultimate excuse opener." Gar whispered, getting a hit upside the head from Rachel.

"Just tell the truth," Nick said, his fingers going to his temples from the bickering.

"You know when I ran away from the hospital?" Tim asked, receiving an odd look from Barbara, "Well, that's when I found Ryan."

"I had escaped from Luther's," Ryan added, getting odd looks from everyone. He hadn't had time to tell his story to _everyone, _so they were pretty in the dark on his situation.

"Anyway," Tim continued, "Luther had given him a package that needed to be delivered to Thorne. Rupert Thorne."

"What would Rupert Thorne want from Luther?" Dick asked, being shushed by Kory, so that Tim could continue.

"We didn't have a way out of the delivery, so I took an x-ray picture of the package, so that we could at least see what he was delivering."

"And..." Rachel pushed when he paused.

"And it had a key in it," Tim said with a shrug, "I don't know, maybe to a locker or something. It wasn't a house key or something like that. There were no notes or letters or anything else in the folder."

Kory pulled the key she still had from a hidden pocket in her dress and turned it over in her hands. Dick and her had thought the same thing when they saw this key. It couldn't be used to open a door and car, but it must have had some kind of use, right? And if Slade himself had come to get it, then it must have been of big importance, right?

It was silent for a minute longer. New information. It did that to people.

"So what now?" Gar asked, "So there is more than one key. Okay. But why does Gunner need them sent from Rupert Thorne, and are they related somehow?"

"Rupert Thorne is more of a delivery man," Nick said, "He doesn't do a lot of dirty work himself. But he's not afraid to pass word or send messages or deliveries himself."

"You think that was just the key's first stop?" Vic asked, "I mean, if this Rupert guy is a delivery man, than this key must be headed somewhere else, right?"

"But why make the unnecessary stop?" Barbara asked, "Why not just go straight to where it needs to go?"

"Because Rupert has something Gunner needs." Dick said, turning back to the computer, "Transportation. There's more than one key because there's more than one lock. Whatever Gunner needs, its locked up tight and Rupert Thorne can get the pieces all together without spreading suspicion."

"Rupert has thousands of accounts up and running." Nick said, "He could send something through one of his accounts and make it look like he was mailing his grandma. He sends so many packages a day it would be impossible for us to determine when and what package he's sending those keys in."

"Cant we just monitor his deliveries?" Gar asked, "I mean, how many can one person send in one day?"

"Rupert sends about 3 thousand," Dick said, pulling up a screen on the computer to show the statistics, "Some of the boxes he sends are empty, so they don't cost much on airlines, but that's just to throw cops and detectives off the trail of boxes that _really _have his business in them."

"So they key is gone," Kory said, tapping her chin, "But what do they unlock and why does Gunner need them sent under the radar?"

"Those are the million dollar questions," Dick said, leaning back. "If he sent his son to get the one we have then he wont give up easily now that Slade has failed to get it."

It was silent as that bit of information set it. Slade never gave up and they all knew he would be back with a vengeance. He would finish his mission _and _get some revenge while he was at it.

"We still have a key, though." Rachel said after a moment, "We have something _they _want."

"So," Barbara said, "What does that-"

"Shut up," Rachel shot down again.

"So," Dick said, continuing Rachel's train of thought, "If we give up the key, we can follow it."

"We follow the key and it'll lead us to Gunner." Tim said, catching on far before Gar did.

"You mean we're giving the bad guys what they want?" Gar asked. "Isn't that kind of backwards?"

"Not it we can follow the trail," Kory said, "We know the keys are going straight to Gunner. Should we find out where Gunner is, we can shut down this whole operation."

"Kinda like playing a trick on them," Vic said and Gar let out a long _oh._

"Ok," Rachel said, "Next problem. How do we 'accidentally' turn over the key and how do we track the key once its gone?"

"Leave the tracking to me," Vic said, taking the key from Kory, and getting to work.

"And turning it over to the other side should be a breeze," Nick said, "Gunner's got nearly all the villains around working for him. Their probably all aware of Slade's failure and are out to get the key."

The sound of heavy footsteps alerted them all the an approaching figure. Victor slipped the key in his pocket and out of sight, while Dick shut down the computer, making sure Rupert Thorne's page was properly deleted from the history.

"Look at you all," Barbara scoffed, "Your all paranoid of Bruce."

Dick wanted to slap Barbara across her face to shut her up. But then again, maybe he should slap himself. She wasn't properly 'up-to-date' on the information and probably didn't even know that Bruce was currently under alien mind control. And yet he had allowed to her barge into their little team meetings.

Yes, the fault was his.

"Suit up." Bruce commanded, not even reaching the bottom of the steps yet, "We're all going out on patrol."  
>"<em>All <em>of us?" Barbara complained, looking at them all, as if counting to make sure there were so many, "Bruce, c'mon. There's nothing stealthy about a parade."

Bruce merely glared and suddenly, they were all moving towards the back of the cave to change, Barbara included.

"You'll be fine with Tim and Alfred," Kory told her brother, "Should anything happen, Tim will know how to reach us."

"Absolutely." Tim said, throwing his arm around Ryan's shoulder, "We're peachy here by ourselves. You guys go and have fun."

"Did he just say peachy?" Nick asked, going through the back drawers for a suite.

"I said they were up to something," Rachel muttered, using her powers to retrieve everyone's suits from their rooms and handing them out.

Kory merely nodded, eying Tim a bit. The boy was a bit of trouble, but she knew he wouldn't do anything reckless. She remembered when she was younger, the worst thing she probably did was raid the fridge at night. That was, of course, before she was betrayed by her sister and kidnapped.

"Nice dress."

Kory looked up to see Barbara staring at her.

"Sparkly," she continued, "Suits you."

"Thank you," Kory said, following Barbara behind a big penny to change., "Your dress is nice too."

"Its just a black gown. Didn't even get a compliment from Dick."

"He doesn't show much affection." Kory said, hoping to soothe the girl.

"Then our definitions are way off," Barbara scoffed, "I saw you guys holding hands outside. That's considered affection."

Oh, she had seen that?

Well, it wasn't like he had kissed her or anything. He simply held her hand, letting go right before they entered the house through the kitchen door. She figured their victory fight had given him a bit of a boost of courage and he had just... done it. His feelings were pretty much out in the open so she really saw no flaw in his behavior.

But Barbara was acting so crestfallen right now. Biting at Rachel during the 'briefing'. Totally not standing up for her brother when she had just defended Tim (and yes, she had noticed that), and just not acting herself now. From what Kory knew about the girl, she was generally happy. Had an attitude, yes, but generally happy.

"I owe you an apology," Kory said, hoping she guessed the girls problem correctly, "For the fundraiser, I mean."

"Yeah," Barbara said, "We should talk about that. It really wasn't cool."

"I do not even remember getting hit," Kory laughed a bit, "And I usually am aware of such things."

Barbara froze, pulling her arm through her suite. "Uh, what are you talking about?"

"Getting hit by the waiter's tray," Kory said, pulling down her shirt, "I missed the whole party. I owe you an apology."

"When did you get hit?"

"Right when I walked in. I didn't even get a chance to see you in your dress."

Barbara raised an eyebrow at her. "What _are_ you talking about, Kory?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

"Let it go, Nick." Robin said, "It happened. It's over. Done. In the past. Don't let it eat at you."

Robin watched his brother sulk a bit. He had known the moment his brother had shown up at the manor that something had been wrong. Aside from the fact that he had been out cold, of course. Which, again, made him question whether his brother should even be going on patrol. He _had _been shot just a few days before. But apparently Rachel's healing was better than he thought and Nick had proven he was alright earlier that night. But he'd definitely keep an eye on him during their patrol.

"Its not eating at me," Blue Jay said, clipping his cape into place, "Its _devouring_ me. You have no idea the things they said."

Which brought Robin back to his brothers apparently 'major' problem. Robin had always expected Gar not to truly have an appreciation for the circus life, after all, it was typically the laughing-stock of the social chain, but for Vic to join in on the fun had seriously traumatized his brother. And for Rachel to have a few say-so's just ended up sending him over the edge.

Nick had always been the sensitive one, so Dick was use to him taking things to heart, but he couldn't recall a time where something had hit him this hard. And certainly not to the point where Nick had actually made himself sick.

It was worrying just thinking about it.

"Look," Robin said, resting his hands on his brothers shoulders, "The way I see it, you have two options. You can get them back for this, or you can let it go. Best I know, you've _already_ _taught_ them a lesson. Just by being alive. We've showed them that there is more to circus people than colorful clothes."

Blue Jay nodded, but Robin could see he wasn't convinced. It would take more persuasion and maybe a little nudge and chat with Vic and Gar, but he was confident that he could get his brother back to normal.

But that was something to deal with later. As long as Blue Jay could push his problems away for a while and fight without getting distracted, they were ready to go.

"It takes you boys longer than Kory to get dressed," Raven said, walking towards where Batman was waiting impatiently.

"I see," Robin heard, and turned to see Starfire and Batgirl approaching.

Batgirl was shaking her head as she passed him and dread was suddenly filling Robin's chest. Why, oh why, didn't he make sure the two of them weren't left alone? What was wrong with him?

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, maybe a hard slap to the face filled with violent Tameranian words, but instead, Starfire passed by him without a glance. He knew she knew the truth, but she had thrown up her walls and he couldn't get a read on her. She was probably angry, perhaps furious, and she probably _did _want to smash his face in, but for now she stood by her brother and waited for Beast Boy to finish changing.

It was perfect timing on his part, of course. He had made a bold move in taking her hand earlier, but it had been a transition move for him. Essentially, he had planned the way the rest of the night would go. After the things he had said in front of Slade, he knew they needed to talk, and he had planned to do it just before they went to bed. But there was always a monkey-wrench in his plans and this one just happened to involved a big lie that she was now aware of. No doubt Batgirl couldn't answer _all _of her questions, but from the looks of things just then, it looked like Raven was filling her in pretty well.

He was in a perfectly doomed position. There was no positive outcome to this fiasco. And right before patrol. Impeccable timing, all right.

**Robin**.

Opening his mind to Raven, Robin pushed his inevitable doom away and tried to get into hero-mode for the second time that night.

_**Yeah I'm here, **_he said, looking to his brother who nodded his head as he entered the mental conversation.

Raven, are you doing that thing? Beast Boy asked, looking around himself obviously, Because you never warn me when you do.

**Look, we all on or no?** She asked, bored.

_**Yeah we're here**_, Robin told her, _**we all ready to go?**_

**I don't know, man, **came Cyborg, **patrolling with the Bat would be cool if I knew I could trust him.**

Yeah, Beast Boy added, I mean, what if he tells us to do something totally loco?

_**Just leave Batman to Blue Jay and I, **_Robin said, **_You take orders from Jay or I. Don't follow any of Batman's orders. Understood?_**

There was a chorus of yes's when Tim and Ryan came back from wherever the disappeared to. Robin felt Raven shut down the mind connection, but he was able to catch Starfire before she was pushed away from him.

_**Can I explain? **_He asked simply, getting a hard mental shove away.

She didn't want to talk to him.

_**Please? You know I never do anything without a reason.**_

…

_**You may find my reason valid.**_

…

_**You really wont say anything to me?**_

…

_**Even after everything I said tonight?**_

There was a slight spike in her interest. He knew he had her attention at this point, but he knew now was really not the time to get into the 'deep-we-need-to-talk' kind of conversation. He just wanted to be on 'OK' terms with her before they went out on patrol. They both needed clear heads here in Gotham, and he couldn't have her too angry at him.

Ryan approached him, his head tilted in the classic 'I-have-no-idea-whats-going-on' type of way Starfire did when she was confused. He was probably a little weirded out looking at him and Starfire simply stare at each other, probably nodding a little in the one-way conversation he was having.

_I have no desire to speak to you right now._

She said, and suddenly, Ryan was pushed from him mind. She _says_ she doesn't want to talk to him, but the simple fact that she _told _him that meant she was at least _sorta_ willing to talk. In Starfire lango, she was willing to listen, but she might not respond. And he was okay with that for now. Like he said, he just wanted to be on OK terms for patrol.

_**Star, you know I never want to hurt you. It's just that-**_

**Batman is ready to leave, now.**

_**Yeah, okay, Raven, but we're kind of in the middle of something right now.**_

**He's growling. Loud.**

_**That's normal. **_

**Starfire. Robin. Now.**

Robin couldn't help look towards Ryan who was broadcasting his confusion, wearing his emotions on his sleeves, much like Starfire did. He seemed so lost now that Raven had joined in on the 'silent conversation'. He looked back between the three of them seemingly trying to find some kind of way to communicate.

Robin could see Blue Jay tap his temple, and Raven allowed him access to the conversation.

**Bruce is far past ready to go.**

Blue Jay joining the conversation was Ryan's last straw. He dropped his shoulder in self-defeat as he gave up trying to figure out what was being said around him. That feeling of not understanding must have been so frustrating and confusing. Robin was in the midst of explaining to Ryan that another language was not being spoken, but the boy seemed to perk up with an idea. Robin watched as he timidly approached Raven, his head tilted way up to look at her face. Robin raised an eyebrow, waiting to see what the boy would do, but realization set in as he allowed his mind to probe Ryan's. He was a beat to late too.

Ryan was short enough to have to look up at Raven, but tall enough not to have to fly as he grabbed her by the back of her head and kissed her hard on the lips.

There was a startling shriek, but it was Kory's and Robin set to work fast. For a few seconds, Raven wouldn't be able to control herself or her emotions, and Kory seemed to catch on to that too as she picked Ryan up and pulled him away from her, Robin setting to work holding Raven back. Blue Jay joined him, grabbing Raven around her waist while Beast Boy and Cyborg came to assist.

Raven was growling, four red eyes appearing on her face as she hissed threats and unpleasant things towards Ryan.

"Raven," Robin said, his voice sounding more like a light warning, "Calm down."

Even with Blue Jay and Cyborg holding her arms and Beast Boy hugging her ankles, she still seemed to be moving forwards.

"He didn't understand," Robin continued, putting up a shield, just in case, "He thought we were speaking a different language."

"He didn't mean anything by it," Kory pipped up from behind.

She was using her body to completely envelope Ryan, who looked shaken with fright. The boy obviously scarred easily and Robin enforced his shield. Neither Ryan nor Raven meant it. Raven was acting out of emotion. While a normal person would simply be startled, Raven's suppressed emotions always acted out 10-fold when they got the chance. The team and him just needed to keep her under control until she was able to get her emotions back under control.

Raven's eyes suddenly began glowing brighter, and Robin knew this was going to be a longer outburst. He searched around with his mind a bit, turning to the right when he found Tim. They met eyes and Tim nodded.

"I've got him." Tim said, rushing to Starfire and snatching Ryan from her.

The two ran to the stairs, Tim pushing Ryan up and running up behind him, so that Kory could help calm Raven.

"What the heck is going on here?!"

Robin couldn't help turning to look at Batgirl for a second. Yes, she had every right to be confused. But she needed to stay quiet if she didn't want to attract Raven's attention. Raven clearly wasn't a big fan of her and turning Raven's shock to rage was never a good thing. Robin knew the team and him wouldn't be able to hold her back if rage decided to make a show.

"She's calming," Beast Boy said, and they all eased their grip on her.

Raven blinked a few times, the two extra eyes diminishing as she regained control of herself.

"Cool warm-up." Beast Boy added, when he saw Raven's hood go up, "At least now we don't have to stretch."

Cyborg was glaring, but Kory put a hand to her chest, breathing deeply. She had probably been frightened for her brother. Those few short moments weren't Raven's doing and anything could have happened.

"You alright?" Robin asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Fine." she snapped, shrugging his hand off.

So they weren't quite on 'OK' terms, but her mental walls weren't up as strong and that was better than no progress.

"I think we're ready to go now," Blue Jay said, motioning his head back to Batman who looked more bored than anything.

They all nodded and made their way over to where Batman was standing. His cape enveloped his form, but Robin could see the impatience in his stance. He never was one to wait for very long, and Robin figured that even though he was under mind control, that probably wouldn't change.

Shaking his head, Robin prepared himself for the patrol. It wasn't quite a mission, but he still had business to attend to. Like turning the key over to the dark side. But he did have one thing on his mind: who to turn it over to. Should they run into the Joker, they could give it to him, but the Joker was unpredictable. Who knew whether or not he would follow through. That was the only _living _person he knew in Gotham that was with Gunner, besides Rupert, and giving it to Rupert would be too obvious.

"Hey Cyborg," he said, pulling the man to the side for a moment, "How's tracking the key coming?"

"Done, man." he responded, "All I had to do was hide a piece of my metal on it. Every inch of my metal is track-able so its no big deal."

Cyborg tossed the key to Robin and Robin took the moment to inspect it. No super shiny spots or blue metallic specks. The tracker was well hidden.

The roar of the batmobile caught Robin's ear and suddenly, Robin knew exactly who to turn the key over to.

"Ride with me, Star." he said, grabbing her arm, and though she pulled back, he easily pulled her along.

Robin and Batman exchanged nods as the roof of the batmobile lifted and allowed him and Starfire entrance. Blue Jay lifted an eyebrow as his motorcycle rode up beside the batmobile, probably wondering why he wasn't riding his motorcycle and why Starfire wasn't flying. With a shake of the head, Blue Jay rode out into the tunnel, followed by the t-cycle and Batgirl on her bat-cycle.

Robin waited until they were well into the ride to their usual lookout point before he spoke.

"Star," he said turning towards her, "You still have that key with you?"

"No." she said simply, and Robin knew she'd be giving one word answers for a little while. He'd have to fulfill this plan on his own.

"That's right." he said with mock surprise, "I have it. Forgot."

"Whats that?" Batman said, his head tilting slightly to look at Robin, "Where'd you get that from?"

"Oh this?" Robin asked, pulling out the key, "Starfire and I found it on our travels. It's probably useless, clearly doesn't open any regular door."

"Let me see."

It wasn't a question, and Robin only looked at Batman's outstretched hand for a moment before handing the key over.

Batman turned the key over a few times in his hand, multitasking between looking at it carefully and driving. With a final inspection, he wordlessly put the key into his cape, in one of the hidden pockets.

And just like that, Gunner was in the process of being tracked.

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Tim slammed himself back on his bed.

His room was seeming infinitely smaller. The wide and open concept of his room was now cluttered with the taken space of the extra bed across from his.

This was no longer _just_ his room. Now, it was his _and _Ryan's.

For the time being, anyway.

Alfred was afraid Ryan would freak out being on earth and everything, though Tim assured him otherwise. But Alfred was firm and all but moved the spare bed in himself. Of course, with Vic and Nick around that wasn't necessary, but Tim wasn't all too happy about the move.

He wouldn't show any disappointment on his face, but he liked his big, open room. It made the cleanliness of it look that much cleaner. Another bed took up some of that clean floor and in return made him feel a little claustrophobic.

But honestly, he didn't mind too much. Just looking at the way Ryan admired the bed, probably his first one, made things a little better. It would be interesting to see how the boy slept that night.

"Nice going by the way," he smirked to Ryan, "Bagging Raven and all of that. Pretty sweet."

Ryan sat at the window chair, pulling his legs up to his chest.

"Hey, don't sweat it," Tim said, sitting up on his arms, "Raven will get over it. Believe me, to her, it never even happened."

"Why did she get angry?" Ryan asked, his voice muffled by his knees.

"Why?" Tim repeated, trying to think of a proper way to explain, "Well, why did you kiss her?"

Ryan began shaking his head and Tim knew he had lost the boy in the conversation.

"Ok." Tim said, "On earth, that thing you did with your lips, we call it kissing. It's a big sign of affection here on earth."

"Kory said I can do it to learn a language," Ryan argued, "She didn't call it 'kissing'."

"That language transfer thing, that's only native to Tameranians. Humans can't do that."

"Then how do you learn a new language?"

"Studying," Tim sighed, the thought of studying bringing up much undone homework to his mind, "Being around people who already speak it. There is no 'instant' with us. We have to do things the hard way."

Ryan hummed to himself, resting his head back into his knees. Tim felt kind of bad for him. Tim had thought a new house was bad. A new school was worse. But a whole new planet? That was far passed anything he could imagine.

"We are still leaving tonight?" Ryan asked, and Tim perked up at the change in subject.

"Yup," he responded, "We have to wait until Alfred goes to bed, to leave, but after that we're in the clear. Wally can be here at the drop of a hat, too."

"Where will we go?"

"I don't know. Somewhere far were we can't risk the chance of running into Batman or the team. Of course, we wouldn't have to sneak out if we were just invited to go out on patrol _with _them."

Tim slammed back on the bed again.

"You know," he pouted, "I _never_ get to go out anywhere."

Ryan tentatively sat on his bed. He couldn't understand how Tim could possibly complain? As long as Ryan didn't have to sleep on a cot, he was far past happy. Though that little fiasco with Raven frayed his nerves a bit.

"I mean-," Tim added, "They say I'm not trained, but how can I _get _trained if I can't leave the house?"

"Perhaps-" Ryan started, but Tim didn't stop talking.

"I'm probably a better fighter than Beast Boy and Cyborg put together. I've been defending myself _before _I got to put on the suit. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"They do it because they care," Ryan said, determined to get his say in. "I know my sister is only trying to protect me. She cares about me, and I know for a fact that she cares about you, too."

"I wish they would care a little less," Tim said, getting up and walking to look out his window, "All I want is to get out there and help. It's not like I want to start my own mob or something."

Ryan leaned back on the bed. He was starting to see a pattern with Tim. Tim, simply put, was stubborn and hardheaded. He just wouldn't see anything besides his own opinions. Though Tim may of _heard _Ryan, he certainly wasn't listening. And Ryan knew, that his new friend would either get himself, Ryan, or both of them in trouble.

"Ryan," Tim asked, randomly "would you say you had a good handle on your powers?"

Rolling his eyes, Ryan sat up. "Probably. It's not like I got to use them often."

"But you think that if you had to protect yourself and say, I don't know, me, you could?"

"Probably. Protection isn't that hard. Most of the time my powers act on their own. They self react, like an instinct."

"Okay," Tim said, simply.

Ryan wasn't liking the way Tim sounded. He already planned to sneak them out of the house, which Ryan was still against, but that random question had ignited some bad foreboding in him. Ryan could already see it, he was going to get in trouble. No doubt about it. He would end up doing something to make his sister upset. He had _just, _literally just, met his sister. He really didn't want to do anything to make her upset. Especially since she cared so much for him.

Tim went back to his bed, falling face first, and Ryan got up again and walked to the window, blowing breath on it and tracing the star systems with his finger. He was glad he had his sister there with him. He would have hated to be the only Tameranian on the planet. He wasn't sure on most things, and the toilet still scared him, but at least he could learn some things with his sister. From what he could tell, she was still getting the hang of things too.

"You see how we can't sit still?" came Tim's muffled voice, "It's the energy of teens. If Batman and the team would let us go out with them, we wouldn't have this energy. Essentially, this is their fault."

Tim, once again, got up from his bed and went to his drawer. Restlessly, he pulled out a black suit and went back into his drawer looking for another one.

"Here." he said, tossing a suit to Ryan.

Right there. Holding that suit, Ryan was having second thoughts. His sister would be so upset should something bad happen to them. Even Richard and Nick would be disappointed in them if they did this.

"Tim I can't," he said, putting the suit down on the windowsill. "We can't. We'll get in so much trouble."

"Oh come on," Tim sulked, "You and I, we're special. We can help the innocent. Help the people who can't help themselves. We're wasting our talents being stuck in this house."

"No, we're saving our talents. See, by waiting to use them, we get stronger."

"That's a horrible philosophy. The worst I ever heard, actually, but come on, we may save a little girl tonight. We may save a woman. Without us, they may be dead."

Ryan wasn't particularly fond of the way Tim put that. He made it sound so... demanding. So important. So urgent. And that wasn't helping Ryan's conscience decision to stay put, like his sister wanted him to.

"We can stay here," Tim said, "like the adults want us to. Or we can go out there, like the world _needs_ us to. Being a hero isn't about doing whats allowed. Its about doing what we can. Whats right. Helping more than necessary. Being-"

"Okay!" Ryan yelled, his hands going to his ears. "When you put it like that, fine. I'll go. But stop monologing. Your making me feel insignificant."

Tim shook his head at Ryan's weirdness. This would be his first time out alone, but of course, he wouldn't tell that to Ryan. Ryan already was barely on board. He thanked his already prepared speech about justice. But somehow, he knew he had Ryan the moment he said 'talents'... and cheese. The boy just seemed to love the stuff.

Ryan wasn't particular an easy person to convince, but his morals and justice sense made him gullible. He was like Kory in the sense that he only wanted to help people. As weird as he was, with his carrot red hair, broccoli green eyes and super orange skin, he was probably the closest friend Tim had. He was one of the few kids he knew who didn't care about his background. Didn't think being smart was a curse, because as far as Tim could see, Ryan was just shy of genius too.

All of that almost made him feel bad about corrupting the boy.

After struggling with his tunic, because Batman normally helped him get it in place, and showing Ryan how to get the cape to stay, he pulled out the most important piece of material a hero could ever use.

"I don't like it." Ryan said, as Tim adjusted his mask. "It makes my face itch."

"You'll get over it," Tim said, expertly putting his own on, "After a while, you wont even know it's there."

"Will it burn? If I light eyes, I mean."

"I don't think so," Tim said, thinking, "I know Batman's run through fires with his on and it didn't burn. I think your good."

"So we leave now?"

"No," Tim said, as if it were obvious, "We have to wait until Alfred goes to bed. He comes to check on me right before he leaves to his room. He was having a cup of tea when we were down in the cave, so he'll be here in about five or ten minutes. So for now, we wait."

"What will we call each other when we get out there? Since we wear masks, I'm guessing calling each other by our names would be a bad idea."

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"Hold your ground." Robin whispered, mostly to Beast Boy.

Beast Boy wasn't the best hand to hand fighter, but he was acceptable. He depended heavily on his powers, something Robin was trying to train out of him, but for now, his powers were a blessing.

Dealing with the Joker always resulted in at least one death and a whole lot of damages. The extra players that night might cut back on some of that.

"So nice to see ya," Joker mocked, stepping out into the street, "We got a whole party now, don't we?"

Robin could feel irritation radiating off of Raven and he just prayed she kept her emotions under control. The last thing they needed was rage escaping her and having to deal with another emotional outburst.

But there was nervousness in the air too, and it wasn't from Beast Boy or Cyborg. No, Robin could feel Harley, from miles away. She clearly didn't like having too many variables to deal with. And that was an interesting thing to get from her. She was usually so calm and kept together... as well together as a psycho gets, anyway. Or maybe, that was only how she appeared. Robin's new powers were shedding a lot of light on things. Perhaps Harley always felt that way and he was just finding out.

"So what is it this time, Joker?" Batman asked, a typical question.

"Wouldn't _you _like to know?" Joker teased, before breaking out into a fit of laughter, "Well if you _must_ know, I plan to send a happy hour message down to the 7 o'clock train rush hour. Those uptight, suit-wearing, job focusing nuts will thank me later."

"And just to make sure you don't interfere..." Harley cut in, skipping up behind the Joker.

Without explaining herself, Chuckles, Jokers own hand-built robot-goon, came crashing out of a side building. Robin had seen Chuckles many times before, but each encounter, Batman, Robin, or Blue Jay usually destroyed it. Why Joker kept building it back up was beyond him.

Sighing, Joker looked at his fingernails, almost bored-like.

"It's a shame," he breathed, "Everyone just _has _to have a robot henchmen. So I give it a try, and what? Its so anti-climatic."

"It's so hard to find good entertainment these days," Harley nodded.

Chuckles had a permanent smile on its face and a sailor's hat that held back fake red curls of hair. In all honestly, Chuckles looked more like a sailor than a clown, but maybe Joker thought that was funny or something.

"Take down the robot," Batman growled, running after the Joker and starting the tiring game of cat and mouse.

Robin felt hesitation, and only realized why when Beast Boy threw him an uncertain look. He had almost forgotten. Batman was loco and he was in charge.

"Go after Batman," Robin instructed, going against his mentors wishes, "Star and I got Chuckles. Follow Jay."

Blue Jay led the others in the chase of Joker. From there, Jay would probably split them up; someone and Cyborg going to defuse the train station bombs and someone and himself helping with Harley and Joker.

_**He's tough, but not unbeatable**_, Robin sent to Starfire, _**We just need to hit him a few times in a few good places and he'll go down pretty easily.**_

They met eyes and he caught her nod of understanding.

So they still weren't on speaking terms.

Great.

Pulling out his bo-staff, Robin extended it and took a running charge at Chuckles. It was time to take out some frustration, and what better way than on a non-feeling evil robot?

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Blue Jay had successfully gotten an approximate location on the four bombs down in the tunnels. It was quarter to 7 and they had about 5 minutes to find the bomb and another 10 to defuse it. And that was cutting things close.

Sending the coördinates to Cyborg, Beast Boy and Cyborg jumped into the nearest sewage system, leaving Raven and him on the chase after Harley. Batman wouldn't be too happy about them basically doing their own thing, but this wasn't exactly Batman, or the Bruce, he and Robin had grown to know. Would this Batman even care that they disobeyed orders?

Batman and Joker had somehow disappeared around a corner, but Harley stood near an alleyway, a bazooka in hand and a bright smile on her face.

Pulling out his bo-staff, Raven and him shared a look before they rushed at the girl.

* * *

><p>When Tim had said they were meeting up with Wally, he actually meant Wally <em>and <em>a friend of Wally's whose name Ryan couldn't pronounce. And out here, Wally wasn't even Wally. He was Kid Flash. And although Tim and Ryan dressed the part of a hero, they were still called by their names. But Ryan didn't mind the changes in name or the new boy. The boy was nice and his weird powers were cool to look at. Apparently, the sticks he held allowed him to control water. He could change the density and everything.

There were already out on 'patrol'. But so far, patrol was turning out to be a bust. Tim had shown them a typical watching point, an old abandoned buildings rooftop, but so far, the only good they did was stop a dog from peeing on a fire hydrant. And that was by accident.

"I'm bored." Wally complained, rolling onto his back. "Ryan, fly me to get a hot dog."

Obediently, Ryan was about to stand up to fly Wally to get, yet another, hot dog, but the new boy put a hand on Ryan's shoulder and stopped him.

"Perhaps," he said, "We ought to try a new spot. Not much is happening here."

"Kal's right." Tim said, standing up from his indian style sit, "We need some action."

"Yeah!" Kid Flash said, "Lets go stop a mob!"

Tim gave Wally a blank stare, but 'Kal' shook his head.

"I'll check the crime scanner," Tim said, pulling up a holographic screen out his glove, "This is connected to the batcave, so anything close by will come up."

Kal was looking closely at the screen, but Wally was sliding his hand back and forth through the screen and laughing quietly to himself.

"Something easy," Kal said.

"Well," Tim said, scrolling, "there's a big fire in Metropolis, but that's kind of far."

"Fires are good," Kal said.

"_Pft_." Wally laughed, "I could put it out in a second."

"We cant even _get _there," Tim reminded.

"Don't worry about me," Wally said, running in a tight circle in a rapid succession, "I could be there in seconds."

"The tides are fast," Kal said, "I could ride those."

"I'll fly you." Ryan suggested to Tim, and just like that, they had a mission.

Wally scaled the wall, running in the general direction of Metropolis and Kal disappeared before Ryan could ask him what he meant about the tides. Shrugging, Ryan gripped Tim's shoulders like he did before and lifted off the roof, following Tim's pointing finger.

Flying at a good speed, fast enough to make miles in a second, but slow enough not to accidentally snap Tim's neck, the two of them arrived at the scene first.

"Wally's always late," Tim muttered, pulling out his cell phone and calling up the boy.

Kal actually arrived next, coming out of a nearby bay like it was nothing.

Wally apparently had somehow gotten lost and it took a few minutes for Tim to direct the boy to their location.

"Not even my fault," Wally claimed, approaching them, "The sign said Metropolis."

"That's not important now," Tim said, looking at the building, as if the flames were a good things, "Right now we just need to tame that fire."

"What building is this?" Kal asked, "It looks familiar."

"Its called Cadmas," Tim said expertly, "It's a genetics research facility. And right now, I bet a lot of important information is burning."

"Then let's make smoke." Wally said, getting a 'boo' from Tim and a 'that was so corny' from Kal.

Ryan nearly cracked a smile at their antics. This was clearly typical between Tim and Wally, but even Kal seemed to fit in somehow.

Ryan would have smiled fully, but he wasn't sure if that was appropriate. Growing up on a ship full of creatures that hated him must have effected him more than he thought. Was he incapable of having fun and enjoying himself?

Perhaps he would never know how to _really _enjoy himself. Even around these boys. They seemed friendly enough and liked to laugh and have fun. Wally had even tried to get him to laugh that night, but Ryan didn't understand almost all of Wally's jokes and boy gave up trying.

Coming to earth was full of pro's and con's.

"Come on."

Ryan jumped from his mind and focused on Kal, who was staring at him strangely.

"We could use your help." he continued.

"With Wally around," Tim added, "We can use all the help we could get. There are reporters over there and the last thing we need is to make fools of ourselves. We got to look good."

"I always look good." Wally said, striking an odd pose.

"Suuuuure," Tim said, rolling his eyes, "Of course you do."

"Come on," Wally said, "You guys know the ladies be watchin this."

"Lets just go," Kal said, "We're stalling."

Ryan waited, looking on a bit blandly, but when they all turned and ran into the fray, he allowed himself to smile.

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><p>AN: So, a lot of stuff is going on now. A little more on whats going on, we now know what Ryan delivered, Rupert Thorne is the messenger, Slade is a punk. All that good stuff. Young Justice fans, you know exactly whats going on here, dont you?

Yeah, I know you do.

Now, this is an AU, so technically, I can do whatever I want. Yes, I know Dick Grayson is the one in Young Justice and all of that, but for this story, I want it to be Tim. Simple. Easy peasy, lemon squeesy.

That's just the way it is.

Believe it or not, we're actually coming to a closing. I'm gonna say there is only a couple of chapters left. There is... may... be a sequel. I actually have it all planned out. I wont spill anything, but you can PM me if you _must _know a little tidbit of a spoiler.

Anyway, I've ranted on enough.

**_Read and__ Review._**

_ScarletDrake


	23. A Dip in the Pool

Hello all.

I return.

So, the other day I was reading my reviews and I came across one that **I 3 Teen Titans **left. You mentioned that this story held your attention for a 8 hour car ride. When I first read that, I was just like _'awwww'_ how nice. But the other day, my friend Angelo and I were having a staring contest, and it lasted for about 6 minutes. It made me realize how long 5 minutes really is. And an hour. And **_8_**hours! So just now, I was just like, _whoa, _that's a long time.

So anyway, that's all I have to say.

Read and Enjoy!

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

"Oh, no." Raven breathed, trying to put together her thoughts so she could take action.

"Dude!" Beast Boy screamed after Robin, "You can't just leave us hanging!"

"Yo, Raven." Cyborg called to her, "You know anything about this? Like, I don't know, why our leader just ran off?"

Simply put, yes, she did know something about this. But now was not the time to talk about it. They were in the middle of a fight. It might have been over quick, but Joker always had- and no pun intended- a trick card up his sleeve. Seriously. It was ridiculous how much stuff he pulled from them. Laughing gas here. An exploding whoopee cushion there. There was no end to his games.

And, of course, the fact that he kept laughing. Well, it was grading Raven's nerves.

Robin and Starfire had taken down Chuckles relatively quickly, rushing over to help within the fight. Raven had figured the fight was pretty much over then. Cyborg had disabled the smoke bombs in time. Harley Quinn had given up the moment the team had fully formed again, claiming, 'There was too many!' and now they had Joker cornered.

How long should it have taken?

But Joker was apparently a reckon to be forced with on his own. And he was proving that.

But that was besides the problem. Right now, she had to make a hard decision. Ditch the team to help Robin, who had just ran off, or stay and try to defeat Joker. Two choices that seemed equally daunting. By she sensed Batman had things under control and Blue Jay didn't seem very freaked out at all by any of this. Apparently, this was normal. Cyborg and Beast Boy could make up the lack of their leader without her, she decided, and flew off.

Just minutes ago, Joker had pulled a, and she quoted, 'surprise butt-bomb'. Kinda literally, too. He had pulled two exploding whoopee cushions from his shoes and thrown them in a seemingly random direction. Of course, they obviously hadn't been.

One cushion had impacted right in front of Robin. Expertly, he had dodged to the side, but the explosion had hit a sewer lid and the top had flown from its hole and headed right for Robin head. Thinking fast, he had thrown up a shield to protect himself, but the top had hit the shield so hard that Robin had actually hit _himself _in the face with his own shield.

It was a sad action to watch, and had Raven not have been close enough to him, the second whoopee cushion would have blown a limb off of him. She had turned her attention from a stunned Robin, who had been lying on his back, and looked towards Starfire, who seemed to feed a bit off of Robin's dazed condition. It took everything in Raven's mental powers to try to block that shocked stupor from Starfire's mind, because clearly, it was too strong for the girl to do on her own.

By sheer bad luck, at that exact moment, an idiot pedestrian had snuck under the perimeter they had set and had taken a picture. The redheaded boy who had probably thought he could get a lot of money from the picture hadn't even realized that the Joker had seen him far before any of the team did, and his under balcony level. Playing it off, the Joker had waited for a perfect moment to throw one of his acid-shooting rubber duckies towards the boy.

Knowing her shield would burn quickly or throw her mental focus off and leave her open for any surprise attacks, she'd simply pushed a shield of black energy at the duck, sending it flying just in front of the boys face.

Her breath of relief was short-lived as the acid-spitting duck hit one of the support beams that held the balcony level and the beam had let out an enormous groan before it began to cave.

Laughing while he did so, the Joker amped up his attacks, aiming for Raven herself. She threw up a shield to protect herself and a still dazed Robin, dropping her block on Starfire, and preparing to try and hold the beam up long enough for the red-headed boy to escape.

Luckily, though, Starfire had pushed past the haziness Robin was clearly casting on her, and flew at top speed, albeit a bit drunkenly, snatching the boy out of the way of the collapsing balcony. She was almost clear and out of the way before a large stone had slipped and hit her on her back. She had dropped from the air, rolling to protect the boy, but it was clear she was hurt. The boy, on the other hand, had jumped up running, seemingly completely fine.

Had Robin been at 100 percent, she knew he'd be screaming his head off, like he tended to do when she got hurt.

Beast Boy, in cheetah form, had dashed out to her, turning into a pterodactyl and carrying her to a safer zone so that she could recover, and dashed back to the fight. But that was a fatal move.

Robin had leapt up without a moments notice and chased after her, heading in a direction Raven could only guess he sensed was right.

It was what Beast Boy would call a 'double-whammy'.

They were connected. They felt each others pain. They healed together. And Starfire currently was in pain and Robin wasn't doing too well either. The two were completely out of their natural mental states and would both be out of control.

Raven was an empath. Simple as that. She had no other powers. She could fly, create her energy, and do her mental powers. But that was it. Being in that category, meant she could heal herself by going into a comatose-like state and allowing her body to repair itself. She was completely unaware of what happened around her and like such, she had no control over what she did. Essentially, she was locked into a completely venerable state.

Robin and Starfire were different. Starfire gave the two of them other powers as well as both of their possessing the telepathy powers. And that changed the way they healed themselves.

Being who they were, star-crossed lovers, fated, destiny... whatever they were, it would change the way they healed big time. From what she knew, a connected male always needed its connected female to heal. The two needed to be close so that their powers could easily flow to and fro, and thus the healing process would begin. Naturally, the body would crave for the other connected host, a kind of tell that meant the host needed to be healed. A brother, maybe, may crave his sister's hand and likewise the other way.

But Starfire and Robin weren't brothers and sisters. Their healing cycle might cause a bit more contact. It might elicit feelings and pleadings of closeness. That usual border that told you you were too physical with someone was gone from their minds. That border that held fear and stopped the shy boys from kissing their crushes was gone.

Robin and Starfire was basically stuck with a primal need to be closer together than they normally were.

There was nothing to stop them from going... all the way.

So that was where she was currently heading. To find Robin and try to shake that urge from him. Stop whatever might happen and they might regret later. Because she was their friend. And good friends made sure their other friends stayed within the boundaries.

The thing was, she didn't know _how _she would do that. It was legend that it was near impossible to stop a healing process. She knew for a fact that nothing could wake her from her healing process. Who was to say that she could stop theirs? It was a daunting task, but she had to at least try.

Of course, she had to ignore the fact that they weren't _really _her friends at the moment. Instead being mindless and lustful creatures who would probably try to kill her for getting in their way. She had to ignore the fact that they may be ten times stronger than they normally were. But those were details, and for now, she just had to find them.

Flying higher to get a better perspective, a startling laugh reverted through the air, and the Jokers laugh sent a chill down her spine.

Opening her mind a little, she made sure to block out the maniac's, sure he'd giver her the headache of a lifetime. But she didn't need to go too far before the tug of Robin's mind pulled at her. Taking a deep breath, she dived towards the alleyway she sensed him in.

It was just like Beast Boy to think an alleyway was the safest place to leave an injured person. But she gave him credit for the hiddeness of it. From the air, it looked as if it was an alleyway _off_ of an alleyway. It would take some maneuvering to find it if you couldn't fly.

"Robin?" she asked, landing in the alleyway.

She sensed him and could even see his form down at the end of the alley under a flickering street light, but the last thing she wanted to do was sneak up on him. She knew how hard it was for him to control his powers, and startling him wasn't the best way to stay on his good side.

"Its me, Raven."

Something of a growl echoed softly down the alleyway, and it was then that Raven spotted the thin arm of Starfire, wrapped tightly around Robin's neck. Thankfully, she could see they were fully clothed, but Starfire was a little too comfortable nestled between Robin's legs as he straddled her.

A cold chill went through Raven and she was suddenly afraid of going down the alley and longing to do it quickly all the same. Dread of what she might see and an urge to make sure nothing happened made her twitchy.

When Starfire's other hand snaked around his neck and his cape dropped, Raven stepped a little faster. How did she even know how to do that?

Dropping articles of clothing was a step in a bad direction. She already didn't know what to do or say, but dealing with one of them, most likely both of them, naked, was _a lot _of steps in the bad direction. There was a groan as Raven approached them and her throat clenched tight. What should she even say?

"Hey." she started with, slapping herself mentally. "Star, Robin?"

There was a grunt and Raven wasn't sure if that was Robin's way of saying 'yes' or he was just _really _enjoying the way Starfire ran her hands through his hair.

"You guys...? Hello... ? You have to stop that... ? C'mon... ? Uh, please... ?"

Yeah, they paid her no mind. And why should they? She was talking to them like they were children and clearly... they weren't.

Sensing a presence, Raven whipped around, seeing Blue Jay crouched from his apparent drop from a building.

"Need help?" he asked, approaching.

"You should be back there helping with the Joker," Raven said, her mind reeling at how to explain this.

"We beat him already," he said, "Didn't you hear his laugh of defeat? Anyway, it was a surprise attack. They always get- _whats going on_?"

A beat passed and Raven tried to think of a simple way to explain this.

"Wait," he said, his mask squinting in concentration, "Their doing that thing, aren't they?"

"What-"

"You remember back at the tower," he asked, ignoring his brother and Starfire and turning to her, "Before they ran off, and that bomb had hit?"

"So?"

"_So, _they'd been like this when I drove them from the tower. Lip-locked and what-not. Robin didn't remember it, but I know I'm not crazy."

"You've _seen _this before?" Raven gaped, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know it was important," he argued, "Besides, the way they acted like nothing happened, I thought maybe I _was_ crazy."

Raven rubbed her temples. If she knew this a few days ago, she might have been able to figure out a remedy for this. She wasn't _really_ sure if there was one, but more time would have been nice.

"Erm, Raven."

"Robin, no." Raven responded to Blue Jay, putting up a back shield between Robin and Starfire, as he was going for her shirt.

Raven threw up a quick shield, enough to startle them, and successfully got him to stop. But Starfire didn't seem deterred in the slightest. She actually smirked a bit as her own hands snaked up Robin's shirt, and in an instant, his tunic lay in a heap beside them.

"So what is this?" Blue Jay asked, motioning to them with his hands nonchalantly, "Why do they do this, and why don't they remember?"

"It's a healing process," she responded, "Technically, they're in a different mind set. Almost comatose. When they 'wake up' they don't remember being in this state."

"That's great," he said sarcastically, "So now, how do we stop this?"

"I'm not sure we can."

Robin and Starfire had simultaneously put their hands on the black shield separating them and Raven felt her shield diminishing in strength. Glowing, white cracks appeared around their fingers and they grew until the entire shield was full of them. Raven dropped her shield, saving herself the pain of having her shield broken to pieces.

Robin through a painful glare at her, before turning from her and reconnecting his lips to Starfire's.

"We should probably find a way," Blue Jay said, his hand going to his chin in deep thought. "This is getting out of control."

As if Raven didn't already know that. It was weird enough seeing them... embraced, like they were. Him settled between her legs like he was. Her mostly bare legs. She already wore a mini skirt, and now that he was so close, it was riding high enough for Raven to see the pink underwear she wore. Her purple shirt was bunched up tight, Robins hands trying once again to snake up beneath it.

"Robin, stop." Raven said, grabbing his arm, "Please."

Robin instead, whipped around, catching her hand and squeezed it in an unbreakable grip. Raven clenched her teeth. This was not what she had been going for. With her other hand she pried at his fingers, trying to force them to open, but he had her in a death grip.

"Let me go," she grit out, trying in vain to use her powers. Starfire's hand was on his bare arm, and she was feeding him energy. There was no way she could over power them.

"Jay." she hissed, getting Blue Jay's attention.

He snapped from his mind and tried to free her himself.

"Quite a grip." he grit out, but he managed to release Raven from his brothers hands.

"This needs to end now," Raven said, massaging his aching arm. "I'll separate them, you grab Robin and I'll grab Starfire."

"Right." he said, flexing his fingers. "We can do this."

"On my mark."

"Ok."

"Now."

Raven had conjured a big enough bubble between them to get some space, but she knew she only had a moment. They'd break the shield in a matter of seconds. But Raven didn't think about it. Instead, she flew around Robin and quickly grabbed Starfire around her waist, flying them both back further from Robin.

She could hear a struggle, and Blue Jay cursed. But Raven couldn't help him. Starfire was struggling hard, her carefully looked after nails breaking as she dug them into Raven's arms. Lines of blood trickled down where they had managed to penetrate, and Raven tightened her grip, her teeth gritting in pain. Her arms were growing hot, though, as Starfire lit them with her starbolts and Starfire kicked her hard in her leg.

"This isn't working." Blue Jay cried, and Raven looked up seeing his barely holding Robin at bay. "He's stronger."

He was using his entire body to try and keep Robin still. He was sitting on the ground, Robin's back to his front, both of his legs wrapped around Robin's stomach, keeping his legs at bay. He had Robin in a sort of full nelson, and even then, Robin seemed determined to get out of the hold.

"Dude!" came a voice, and Raven was actually glad to hear beast boys voice.. "Whats going on?"

"No time to explain," Raven grunted out, getting a particularly nasty backwards head-butt from Starfire, "Just help us hold them down."

Cyborg entered the alleyway a second later and walked towards them cautiously.

"Just help." she told him.

Beast Boy went to help Blue Jay but Cyborg came to her aid. Raven backed off just a bit, holding Starfire's hands behind her back and Cyborg helped keep her legs at bay. They both pushed on Starfire, giving her a weird three-way kind of hug, where she was squished in the middle. It help more still, although Raven could feel every one of her muscles tense as she tried several ways to break the hold.

Raven grit her teeth again, as Starfire's hands began the glow green.

"I'm burning." she grit out. "Switch sides with me."

Her and Cyborg did a slow and complicated dance of switching sides. Since Cyborg's hands were fire-proof, Starfire's starbolts couldn't burn him, but when Starfire's eyes lit up, she shared a startled look with Cyborg. Knowing this would hurt, she head-butted Starfire, her hopes of dizzying the girl failing, but succeeding in getting Starfire's eyes to stop glowing.

"Raven!" Blue Jay called, "We need to end this!"

Robin was still struggling hard. Beast Boy was an octopus, his numerous tentacles trying to hold Robin down, but even him and Blue Jay were struggling.

"Yeah, Rae." Cyborg asked. "How do we get them to stop... this?"

She didn't know. She really didn't. She wished she did, but as far as she knew, nothing could snap someone from this healing cycle. She had tried before in the past to get herself out of them. She had tried before to start her process on command and turn it off when she desired, but she lost every time. And if she couldn't stop _herself _from doing it, how was she supposed to stop _them_?

"What the hell is going on here?!"

"Oh, great." she muttered, hissing as Cyborg's hold on Starfire's leg slipped and she was kicked yet again.

Batgirl dropped down from whatever perch she had been on ran towards them.

"Let them go!" she screamed and Raven sent a band of black energy to cover Batgirl's mouth.

"Listen, chick." Raven ground out. "You don't understand whats happening here, nor will I explain it to you. The best thing you can do is turn around and walk away."

Batgirl struggled with the band of energy, but she didn't fight any of them. And things got a little worse when Starfire suddenly remembered her eye beams. Raven found herself staring into Starfire's lit eyes, but suddenly, the girl went limp. Cyborg held her and Raven took a step back. She sensed no trickery of faking involved... but... how?

Looking towards Robin, she first saw Beast Boy pointing at Blue Jay and Blue Jay shaking his hand. Robin was slumped on the ground and Raven could only assume that Blue Jay had decked him.

"Couldn't hold him." Blue Jay explained, and Raven raised an eyebrow.

That... was a good idea.

Batgirl began squealing, the black band on her mouth frustrating her, and with deep thought, Raven released the band.

"Good god!" she screamed, "What is with you people?"

"Babs, shh." Blue Jay tried, "We _don't _scream in crime alley. _Big _no-no."

"I think I have a right," she said, "I walk around looking for you guys and find you all wrestling in an alley. What am I supposed to do?"

"Sit in the corner and shut up?" Raven offered, getting a loud snicker from Beast Boy.

"All right, all right." Cyborg said, picking Starfire up bridal style, "Lets all just calm down. It's been an exciting day. Why don't we call it a night and head back to the cave. We got some things to figure out and some things to explain and discuss."

"Cyborgs right," Beast Boy confessed, "Fighting the Joker is tiring. I'm beat."

"T-Car's just around the corner," Cyborg said, "We can all ride back together."

"No thanks," Barbara said, "I better get back home myself. I can use a bit of sleep."

It took everything in Raven to keep a rhetorical comment down, but she managed and watched Batgirl fly off to some deep hole in the ground that she called home. Blue Jay waited until she was gone before he picked his brother up and carried him after Cyborg and Beast Boy.

Raven turned to follow them, but stopped, a forewarning beckoning her back. She turned back to the alley, seeing Blue Jay's phone on the ground. It must of fallen out of his pocket during the struggle. Leave it to him to go through all of that struggling only to forget his phone.

Using her powers, she brought the phone to herself and was about to leave once again when it vibrated. That was why she got a pang of forewarning; his phone was about to ring. She carried it with her out the alley, not even bothering to check who it is.

Everyone was crowded in T-Car when she approached, glad they had respectfully left the passenger seat to her. Getting in the car, she tossed Blue Jay's phone back to him and buckled up as Cyborg pulled off.  
>"Uncle Clark?" he asked, answering the phone and Raven rolled her eyes.<p>

Robin and Starfire were both squished in the middle of Blue Jay and Beast Boy, but neither seemed to mind too much. Beast Boy looked as if he was falling asleep and Blue Jay was busy on the phone.

"... what do you mean?" he asked, "... but... but he's back at the manor, how... no, but... I'm just sure... put him on the phone... what do you mean... fine..."

Raven was tempted to tap into Blue Jay's mind and see what exactly was going on, but shook the thought from her mind. Though he seemed highly concerned and even a little angry, she wasn't going to pry. It wasn't her place to fix his problems, or even know what they were.

"Hurry back to the manor," Blue Jay said, snapping his phone shut.

"Whats up," Cyborg said, making a sharp right so that he didn't have to stop at the red light, "Sounded pretty serious."

"Well, there will be death tonight." he said simply, but the way he said it suggested that that wasn't really the case.

"So what is it?" Raven asked, curiosity getting to her.

"Tim." he told her, "And Ryan. They ran off to Metropolis and apparently made a big mess of things."

"Told you!" Beast Boy yelled, shaken from his stupor of sleep to point in Raven's face, "I told you they were up to something!"

Raven didn't even care to correct him.

"Listen to this," Cyborg said, turning up the radio. "Its the news."

_...currently in shambles. 'Blockbuster' , or Dr. Mark Desmond, as he has been identified is actually a research scientist who worked in the Cadmas labs. Other scientists who worked there are obviously clueless with the hidden lower levels of the building, but many more are being interrogated as we speak. The experiments and other projects are being shut down and Superman himself has escorted our 'young heroes' back to safety and out of the spot light._

_ We're not sure who these young heroes are and what information exactly they have found, but I think I speak for all Metropolis when I say we appreciate them and that we are thankful that even these young kids have a sense, of Young Justice._

_This has been, Lois La-_

"They're so dead." Blue Jay said, shaking his head.

"My moneys Alfred," Beast Boy said, "That old dudes got a wicked sense. I don't think _Tim_ could hide from him."

"Where are they now?" Raven asked.

"Clark just told me he sent them all home."

"Who's Clark?" Beast Boy asked.

"Superman." Blue Jay said, yelping a little when Cyborg swerved the car.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Cyborg said, "You call _Superman,_ **uncle**Clark?"

Blue Jay just shrugged but Raven could practically hear the gears turning in beast boys head. He was a regular fanboy.

"Why would he just send them home?" Raven asked, "He can't even give them a ride?"

"He can," Blue Jay said, "But Clark isn't that great with kids. And I bet Tim and Ryan were dieing to get away. They know their in trouble."  
>"This is <em>so<em> gonna be documented," Beast Boy said, "And I'm putting it on youtube."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

Tim rolled his eyes as they dropped down again.

"Just land," Tim told him, "You'll drop me before we even get home."

"I'm sorry," Ryan apologized, landing on the sidewalk, "I can't focus."

"Nah," Tim waved off, "Your just nervous."

"I _know!_" Ryan exclaimed, "We got caught! No, we didn't just get caught, we're in trouble!"

"We did a public service," Tim explained, "Without us, that Blockbuster stuff could be sold anywhere. We may have saved people."

Ryan was silent as they walked along, but Tim knew the boy was still freaking out. Tim, on the other hand, was calm. No matter what heat they got tonight, he was proud of himself. He had struck out on his semi-own and did good. Of course, they only planned to put out the fire, but when he found that the express elevator wasn't on the buildings map, he knew he was on to something. But how was he supposed to they'd end up finding a superman clone and fighting a monster and destroying a research lab and nearly dieing?

It wasn't his intentions, really.

But then, he knew Bruce would kill him anyway. And maybe even Dick. And Kory would be an emotional wreck for a few days, he was sure. Maybe... he should leave out a few details, for... Ryan's sake, of course. If possible, he could leave Superboy out completely. Superman was taking care of that situation, and Wally promised to keep an eye on him. The part about electrocuting Blockbuster could be left out too. In fact, Tim pretty much had a whole book of things he didn't have to say. He could make the whole thing sound like an accident if he wanted, and that would be better than getting punished Bruce-style.

If letting a petty robber go got him in the hospital, what would pulling a stunt like this get him?

"You know Ryan," he said, looking to the boy, "Maybe it would be best to keep a down-low on the details."

"But you are already low if you are down." Ryan said and Tim slumped a bit.  
>"Just... leave the talking to me, okay?"<p>

"Okay."

They crossed a busy street and Tim realized they were just a few blocks from the manor. Hopefully, they could sneak in through the window and pretend to be asleep. At least that way, they could buy themselves the night to prepare for a decent explanation.

They were about to cross yet another street, when a blood curdling scream pierced the air.

Ryan dropped into a crouch, his hands going to his ears, but Tim did some simple calculations to pinpoint the origin of the scream. Determining it just a block back, he grabbed Ryan's shoulder before doubling back down the street.

"Tim," Ryan complained, flying beside him, "We have to go home."

"You go on ahead then, I cant leave someone screaming like that and sleep well."

Tim heard Ryan sigh and knew the boy was following close behind.

Skidding to a stop, Tim looked down the closest alleyway and saw two guys jeering jokes at an old lady in her wheelchair. The woman, clearly in her late 70's had short white hair that was curled tight in a bun, a long floral moo-moo dress, and two canes. Tim blinked, just making sure, and yes, confirmed that she had _two _canes in both her hands. It made no sense to him. Why would a lady _with_ a wheelchair have a cane, let alone _two._

He shook his head and looked to Ryan, who nodded his head.

Pulling the bo-staff he borrowed from Bruce he spun it a few times, before using it to catapult himself over the two guys and landing protectively in front of the woman. The woman screamed again, probably from fright, and then, did it again as Ryan joined Tim in front of the lady.

The two guys, shocked beyond all belief, backed away slowly, before turning and fleeing.

"I'll get them." Ryan offered, before disappearing, leaving a trail of blue haze and reappearing a second later.

He had the two, now struggling guys, by the collars and floated high off the ground.

"Ryan, drop them," Tim said, regretting it a second later as Ryan literally dropped. The two guys dropped, face first, and didn't get up when they hit the ground.

"Oh, Ryan." Tim said, shaking his head.

"What?" he complained, "I did what you said."

"Never mind," Tim said, handcuffing them, "I guess that was better than accidentally killing them."

Tim had just finished cuffing them, and Ryan had dragged them over to the wall before Ryan tapped his shoulder.

"The victim doesn't look too well." he whispered, and Tim stealthily turned to look at her.

"Yeah," he observes, "She looks near death. Oh wait, she's just old."

Tim snickered, but Ryan slugged his shoulder roughly.

"I'm serious," he said, "Look how pale she looks."

"She's just old, Ryan. Now, we should go back home and-"

"We should make sure she's alright first."

"Oh look who's not in a rush now? Besides, Batman doesn't check on people. He simply saves them. We should do as he does."

"Do you _really _want to be anything like him?"

Tim shuffled his feet for a minute.

"Fine." he said, "We'll go say hi or whatever, but I'm not pushing her chair home and letting her tell me about the 'good old days'. We're in enough trouble already."

"Deal." Ryan said, leading the way over.

Tim had opened his mouth to talk to her, but he didn't even get out a whisper before she pointed a bony hand behind him. His eyes narrowed, Tim and Ryan both turned slowly to look behind them, but found nothing.

Tim turned to look at Ryan, but suddenly felt a pang of anguish hit his back. His whole body tensed up immensely as he dropped to his knees. He knew immediately that he was bleeding heavily, he suit already feeling slick and sticky. Ryan dropped to his face first and Tim could see that Ryan, too, had been slashed brutally in the back.

Tim's back throbbed in a way he had never experienced before and the pain came so suddenly that it made him dizzy. He couldn't tell what was up for a moment and suddenly felt his face hit the ground. He lifted his head up a bit, seeing the old woman use both of her canes to support her as she stood up from her wheel chair, and at a total of 0.5 miles an hour, hurried from the alleyway, a trail of blood dropping from the right cane.

"So that's why..." Tim said, suddenly on the verge of laughing, "That's why she had those canes."

Ryan managed to turn his head and face Tim, but his face said it all: he was not only in pain, but he also had a slight look of being disturbed. Like he believed Tim had hit his head in his fall.

"Are you alright?" Ryan asked.

"No," Tim laughed, and he suddenly realized how true that was. "Just think about it. We come out here, chests puffed out and all that, and we put out a massive fire, only for an old lady to... to..."

He was laughing so hard he couldn't even get it out. The whole situation was funny now and Tim had to wonder, just how many times Bruce got _his _butt kicked when he first became Batman. Tim honestly wouldn't be too surprised if the answer was 0. Because, simply put, he was Batman. And Batman didn't get beat. Who was Tim to go out a pretend he was just as good? He didn't even have a name, for crying out loud.

"We come out here," he laughed, "And for what? To get the... get the..."

And suddenly, Ryan cracked a small smile.

"...to get the _shluff_ beat out of us..." he offered.

"Yeah," The word '_schuff_' sounded funny, and Tim couldn't help laughing harder. "The _shluff_."

"She had to be 90," Ryan said, and Tim laughed even harder.

"Her cane... her cane almost snapped in half."

With that, Ryan laughed, and Tim had to wonder what the two of them looked like at that very moment; bloody and laughing in an alleyway. When their laughing died down, they looked at each other, and laughed even harder; to the point where tears were running down the sides of their faces. And even as their own blood pooled on the cement, they just continued to laugh.

"If she had a faster wheel chair..." Tim cried.

"Or a walker..." Ryan added.

"She'd of... she'd of killed us."

And for some reason, that fact made the situation even _funnier._

"She'd of ran us over with her hover chair."

"I don't even know what that is," Ryan laughed, causing Tim to hiccup in his own laughter.

It was a good while later before their hysterical laughter calmed down to only hiccups and deep breathing. But as the laughing attack wore off, the pain that Tim had felt was coming back with a vengeance. It wasn't just a throbbing pain in his back anymore, now, it was jolts of anguish, taking the last bit of Tim's energy to keep him from screaming.

"That was weird." Tim managed to whisper, "I think we were in shock. I blame the blood loss."

"Adrenaline isn't exactly good for us right now, but I don't care." Ryan said in a pain-laced voice, "My body hurts too much. How are we supposed to get back to the manor?"

Tim craned his neck to look around, but that hurt so much. He managed to look out towards the street but only spotted a dim star over a far away building. He wished it could tell him how to get home, because at the moment, he wasn't even sure if he could sit up.

"We got to get home, Tim." Ryan said, making sure to emphasize that point. "And we have to do it ourselves. We have no way of calling Alfred or anyone."

"And being in this dark alleyway isn't good either," Tim added, knowing he wasn't making Ryan feel any better.

Ryan shifted, but hardly stifled in a cry when his back moved just an inch. Yes, they were in deep trouble.

"Quiet." Tim hissed, "That right there, is the sound of prey. Its bad enough granny left a blood trail. If anyone in Gotham hears even a morsel of pain, they'll just come to torture us. I'm serious, they beat the crap out of near dead people all the time for fun. And you and I would be a big load of fun because we're kids and we have capes."

"You serious?" Ryan whispered, obvious fear in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Now, we need to get out here and get home before we come up against some really nasty people. And with us barely able to breathe, we'd totally be defenseless."

And even with that said, neither moved. They both just sat there, looking at each other silently daring the other to move first.

"We wont be able to walk." Ryan said, sounding dejected. "I know we can't. We're here, bleeding out in an alleyway."

Tim was _not _a fan of the way Ryan sounded. It was too close to what giving up sounded like. Ryan hadn't lived most of his life as a slave, escaped his prisoner sentence, and ran to earth just to die in an alleyway the next day. That was _not _going to happen to himself or his new friend. What they needed was a plan.

As painful as it was, he moved his head around, looking for any kind of assistance. Something to help them out.

"I got an idea," Ryan said, turning his face back to Tim, who looked at him wearily.

"If you say anything that has to do with old people, id rather die right here, right now."

But Ryan didn't say anything. He just nodded his head behind him. Tim, vocally painful, looked above him.

"You mean that wheel chair?" he asked.

"Why not? It's not a car or anything. But its got wheels and it beats trying to crawl all the way back."

"Alright." Tim sighed, "Transportation down. Now. How are we going to get over there? If you volunteer to go get it, I'm all ears."

"I say we both go. That way its fair."

Tim nodded, and silently, they both seemed to decide that moving their arms above them was the best first move.

Tim would never of guessed the amount of pain that would have came from that. He was known for his flexibility. He could do splits. And back flips. And cartwheels. Things that normal boys would clench at. But rolling over? So why was the simple move of moving his arm so _hard_.

He knew his lip was bleeding from just biting on it so hard, but he had no choice and chose not to look Ryan's way. The quiet sounds Ryan was already making was making Tim's head hurt. This was all his fault. He had been warned. He had been advised. By numerous different people. Even Ryan himself. And still, he had gotten them both hurt _and_ in trouble.

"I cant move." Ryan said suddenly, his head dropping to his arms. "I'm too heavy."

"No, come on." Tim urged, pulling himself not even a millimeter forward, but forwards none the less, "We can't stop. We got to keep going. We can do this. We'll get home, I promise."

Tim watched Ryan for a minute. Sighing a bit when the boy lifted his head and gave a heave, pulling himself forwards. It was hard, Tim knew so himself, but he wouldn't let them die in that alleyway. He couldn't allow it.

And though the wheel chair was only a few feet away, it had taken them both a great deal of time to get there.

"You think she got our spines?" Ryan asked, during their short interval of trying to catch their breaths, "Because it feels like she did."

"Don't think about it," Tim said, for the third time looking up at the chair as if it were a mountain they had to climb. "Positive thinking, only."

The chair was wide enough for them both to sit in, but rolling the wheels themselves had Tim concerned. His breathing was labored, and he knew they needed to get back to the manor. They were a good five or six blocks away, though. Nothing if he were fine and healthy, but a difficult task for him now.

"I'll go first," he said, deciding to suck it up and just go.

"I'll help you." Ryan said, doing his best to lift Tim up with one arm.

They both needed to take a break once Tim was moved to sitting up. He sat on his knees and leaned heavily onto the chair, his head resting on the seat. And as nasty as that was, he couldn't help but revel in the feeling of being upright.

"C'mon," he said, "We'll get you like this and then I'll move again."

Tim could only use one arm, his other one holding on to the wheelchair, since the brakes wasn't on and it threatened to go skidding away at any moment. But Ryan pulled himself up mostly, as silent and as quiet as Tim had been. But Tim noticed that his lip was bleeding too, and that his eyes were red-rimmed. Tim shut his own eyes tightly before opening them; if Ryan wasn't going to cry, then neither was he.

Again, they were out of breath after completing that small task, but Tim was glad they were both upright. At least now he didn't feel so tired.

"Alright," Tim said, "Just try to keep the chair still. I'm gonna get up there."

Ryan nodded, pulling himself up just enough to use his weight to keep the chair still. Putting both his arms on the top of the back seat, Tim used the flimsy fabric to pull himself up on. It hurt. Simply put. It hurt worse than anything he ever remembered. That strain on his upper body pulled at the gash in his back and he suddenly felt sticky and wet again. It was his adrenaline, he knew. He was working too hard. He was bleeding himself to death. But with a grunt of pain, he turned himself and fell back into the chair.

That was way worse than he had expected.

"It's not that bad," he lied, "C'mon. I can help you now."

It hurt, but Tim leaned forwards and grabbed Ryan by his shoulders, pulling him up while Ryan stood with his legs. Ryan was nearly up when Tim's hand slipped and he pressed hard on Ryan's back. Tim didn't even scold him for the cry of pain. The cry was so emotional that Tim felt as if his own back had been pressed on.

Ryan turned, and fell back into the chair beside Tim, wheezing.

"Sorry," Tim said, feeling bad, "But we got to go."

Ryan nodded at him and Tim reached down with his hand, mentally looking for wheel. Unfortunately, his arms weren't that long and he had to stretch a bit to really reach where the wheel turned. Ryan seemed to be having the same problem, because he was stretched over too.

"We have to do this at the same time," Tim said, "If we don't, the chair will turn, okay?"

"Alright." Ryan said, beyond ready to be back in that warm bed of his. "On your count."

"Okay, one. Two. Three. Turn."

Tim wasn't sure if it was the weight of them both combined with the chair or if it was just his lack of strength, but the wheels were _very _hard to turn. He grunted a bit, just trying to get the wheels turning, but once it got going it was easier. Definitely faster than trying to crawl, which Tim wasn't sure he'd be able to do anyway.

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Garfield felt like things were moving in slow motion. He watched as Victor watched his holographic arm that showed a little blinking red dot that symbolized the key they turned over the Bruce move an inch every 12 minutes. He watched Rachel float up and down in meditation, her focus on speeding up Kory and Dick's healing process. He watched Nick stare out the window, his mind probably on Tim and Ryan who hadn't made it home yet.

Nick, to say the least was freaking out big time. He called Tim's phone probably about five times, forgetting that the boy had left his phone in his room. He had called the West's, Wally's parents and they hadn't heard anything either. He even called his 'Uncle Clark'. He was probably about to head out and do another sweep of the city again, but Vic convinced him that he'd be more help home.

Gar figured the two boys were fine, just scared to come home or something of that nature. They _had _made a mess of things, but no one had been killed. That had to lighten the sentence, right?

For the third time that night, Gar made his way to the kitchen. Alfred was up and was cooking frantically. It was 4:30am and no one was really hungry, but the house was clean and cooking and cleaning seemed to be the only things that took Alfred's mind off of things he didn't want to think about. Grabbing a tofu cupcake out of a dozen, he mindlessly walked around.

Bruce had come home about an hour ago. He was the mindless zombie again and after changing into a suit (yes, a suit) he went to his room and stood at the head of his bed. Gar couldn't figure out for the life of him, why the man didn't just lay down. The little aliens who were clearly controlling him could have made a better effort to make Bruce seem remotely normal.

But Gar didn't worry much about that either. Bruce had done what they needed him to do, which was turn over the key. The moving, blinking red light Cyborg was tracking was perfect proof of that. They didn't need the man anymore. Of course, if they could somehow manage to get the probes out of Bruce, then, they could have Batman on their side again.

The idea of having the dark knight helping seemed like a great idea. So great, that Gar wanted to try at that very moment.

But, everyone was busy, mostly doing nothing. And would it hurt if he gave it a shot himself? Of course, he was no genius, but he was no idiot either. Hanging around Cyborg had its perks and when Blue Jay wasn't training then he was hacking. Gar figured he had picked up a few things about computers and his video games made him a fast typer. Could he crack this on his own?

With a pep in his step, he marched up to the grandfather clock that he knew led to the batcave. He was just about to open it when a thought struck him: what would he do one he got to the cave? Turn on the computer, yes, but then what? What would Nick do?

Surely, Nick would already have some kind DNA that he could give to the computer, right? He'd have a sample of a nanobot or something like that. Gar didn't have any of those things, but he knew where he could get it.

Spinning on his heals, he marched back through the kitchen and up the foyer steps. He had followed Bruce for a while when the man had come back so he had no trouble finding the room again, but for some reason, he was a little startled when he saw Bruce standing at the foot of his bed. Which was stupid, because he knew Bruce would be there. It was just... weird.

Gar had made it within 10 feet of Bruce, his intent to just get a bit of fingernail off or grab a piece of hair, some kind of DNA, but Bruce's head snapped towards him. The move was robotic and Gar nearly screamed from the suddenness. But Bruce didn't move beyond that. He just continued to stare. It made Gar wonder if there was some little alien watching him through Bruce's eyes.

He took another careful step, but that seemed to set Bruce off and the once still Bruce leaped at Garfield with unmatched speed. Gar knew he wasn't nearly fast enough to dodge the flying Bruce, so he turned into a turtle and dropped to the ground. Bruce had landed on his feet, but backwards, and Gar took the advantage and shifted into a kangaroo and kicked Bruce in the back.

The man went flying face first into a wall, putting a hole and several cracks in it, but he stood up after that, cracking his neck. If Bruce had had any emotion on his face, Gar knew he'd be smirking. A small trickle of blood ran down the side of Bruce's forehead and Gar reminded himself that he couldn't _really _hurt Bruce. None of this was the mans fault.

But Bruce didn't care about any of that, his intent seemingly on killing Gar. When Bruce lunged again, Gar shifted into a hummingbird and flew out of reach. Bruce charged again and Gar shifted into an ant. And then he was a lizard. And then a falcon. And then a fly. Shifting never wore Gar out, but just watching Bruce jump around so much was making him tired. And yet the man didn't even seem to care.

Bruce lunged at him again, but this time, Gar shifted into an elephant and with his trunk he threw Bruce to the side. Gar hadn't been watching _where _he threw Bruce, he just had. But he watched in horror as Bruce crashed into one of several windows lining the walls. The glass shattered, but thankfully, Bruce didn't go flying out. Instead, he slumped onto the ground.

Groaning at his mistake, he carefully made his way to Bruce to make sure he was... well, still breathing. Picking up Bruce's arm, he didn't feel a pulse. His heart sped up tenfold and he roughly slapped Bruce's neck looking for a sign. He breathed a sign of relief when he found a strong pulse. Honestly, he didn't know why he never just started with the neck; he never could find a pulse in the wrist.

But his heart did a u-turn and sped up again when a hand grabbed his wrist. Gar's mouth dropped open and he wondered just how the little aliens could get Bruce to ignore pain. Though Bruce's face showed no emotion, he was bleeding nearly everywhere. The nice suit he had had on was cut and scratched from the glass, showing bits of bleeding skin. There was a line of blood still trickling down from Bruce's head from when Gar had tossed him at the wall. And now that Gar was close enough, he saw that Bruce's right foot actually wasn't sitting right.

Who'd of though _he _would take out the dark knight... who just happened to be under the mind control of aliens.

He was pulled from his mind my his hand painfully being crushed. He couldn't get out of the grasp with his other hand, so he shifted into a snake, finding that Bruce just held his scaly body. Shifting into a lizard, he was still held down. He knew he couldn't shift into anything big, like a hippo, or he might risk crushing Bruce from his growth of size. Something in his risk snapped and Gar thought fast, head-butting Bruce hard.

The only thing that resulted from that was swimming colors in front of Gar, and that didn't help at all with his hand. Taking a chance, he shifted into a fish and with some wiggling, he was able to slip out of Bruce's hand. He then shifted into a cheetah and bolted from the room. He was sure Bruce wouldn't follow him, since he only reacted when Gar was close, so he took his time heading back down the stairs and to the grandfather clock.

He was feeling a little sore, but he'd been through worse. It was probably just because he didn't stretch and did all that shifting anyway.

Going to the computer and turning it on, it almost surprised him that it asked for a password. A password he didn't know... but, had seen Dick and Nick type it in numerous times. He just, couldn't remember what it was. He turned into an elephant to try to get his memory jump-started, and in a haste, he typed in the numbers and letters that popped up. The password wasn't composed of any words or normal things, it was just a jumble of letters, some capitalized, some not, and a bunch of numbers. Nevertheless, the computer beeped and he got access.

It took him another 10 minutes to find where the computer accepted DNA and simply placed his risk on the scanner where some of Bruce's blood had gotten on him. The computer beeped and a dozens of screens popped up in rapid succession. DNA genome's and allele's popped up. Things he knew the names of, but didn't know the function. How on earth was he supposed to send some kind of kill code to Bruce if he didn't even know which window showed his blood.

No sooner had that though crossed his mind, that a window popped up. The image was so familiar that he checked the time at the bottom right of the screen to make sure he was actually were he remembered being. The image of red, little red circular thingies (that he was pretty sure was blood cells) ran through a reddish tube with little silver and gray blinking balls flying around.

If he remembered correctly, he had had probes in his blood a while ago and his blood had looked just like that. All red and... bloody... with those little circle things in them too. Of course, it didn't make much sense for Slade to use the _same_ probes he used to poison Gar and his friends. But then, Slade probably wasn't expecting them to pay _that _much attention to Bruce anyway.

Slade had seriously underestimated them. Underestimated _him._ Because Gar was going to crack this, and he was going to do it himself.

Which brought him back to problem number one. How?

His original plan was to send a kill code or something like that, but know that he had located the probes and nanobots and whatever, he realized that he knew no kill codes. Robin had sacrificed himself for them and that didn't require any codes.

Which left him on his own. He knew a few, but none were anywhere near strong enough to break that kind of connection. He could always just try and Google one, but what was the chances that it could stand up to Slade's technology?

Minimizing the screen, he looked around on the desktop for some kind of help. Did Batman save the codes he found or was he just good enough to remember them? Probably the latter. He was, for a reason, Batman.

There were Wayne files. And villain files. The computer was like a larger version of Robin's computer. And Gar knew no files that held codes on Robin's computer. He was about to pull up Google when he accidentally highlighted all of the files on the desktop. There was one file that didn't have a name or picture, making it seem invisible, but now that the screen was highlighted, a blue folder showed up.

He debated for a second on whether he should open it, but shrugged before double clicking it. That folder, too, had a password, which was weird, and Gar entered one of the simple ones he knew. Soundlessly, the folder opened and Gar did a little chair dance. He was a better hacker than he thought he was.

The folder was filled with dozens of other folders, but thankfully, the other ones didn't need any passwords. Clicking on a random folder, a picture of a big man with glasses popped up. Ignoring it, Gar scrolled down, seeing documents after documents on what seemed to be random things. A history on the city of Metropolis. The Daily Planet newspaper homepage. A bio on a Lois Lane. Another big folder on a man named Clark Kent. Fan pages of Superman.

Clark... uncle Clark... Superman... Metropolis...

Gar's eyes bugged for a minute and he went back to the main folder, clicking another one. Barry Allen. Wally West. Iris West. The Flash. He went back to another folder. John Stewart. Shyera Hal. Green Lantern. Hawkgirl.

_This was a serious folder!_

All those names and pictures and bios and histories. They were justice league members! Gar had a conflicting moment, torn between closing out the folder and pretending he never saw it or continuing to explore. After a brief moment of torment, he decided he'd keep looking, but only for some kind of kill code. He _did _have a mission to complete.

It actually took a few minutes for Gar to get passed all of the people bio's. There were dozens and Gar promised himself he'd come back and go through them later. But finally, he got to the technical stuff. Weapons. Suits. Hidden suit compartments. Belts. Bo-Staff. NASA Project (what did _that_ mean?). Gar nearly exited out of the folder, finding nothing useful, but his eyes caught the word _Computer _and that seemed as good a place as any.

Opening it up, he was brought to a million other folders. Cheats. NASA, again. Wayne computers. Gotham High School. Gar stopped, looking at the last folder and realization dawned on him. That was why he was able to get into the folder so easily; it wasn't any of Batman's or even Dick or Nick's folders. It was Tim's.

He felt like he should have known he'd been looking at a teenagers folder for all this time, but then, what teenager knew all that stuff about the League? The thought made him feel justified a little and he continued scrolling.

He nearly shouted _finally _when he saw a folder labeled **Codes. **He was really loving Tim's easy approach to information and the neatness of the folder.

Opening the folder, he found that he needed a password. He groaned, dropping his forehead to the desk, but getting a high pitched _ding _instead. Lifting his head, he found that he must of hit the keyboard and somehow got the password right.

He didn't question how that even happened and looked at the six folders. If there was one thing he was learning about Tim, it was that the boy loved folders. **Cheats. Door Locks. Wayne. Official. Presidential. Kill. **Eagerly, he clicked the **Kill** folder, and watched as the folder opened. There was only one document in it, but upon opening it, Gar found that it was full of hundreds of kill codes.

Gar just had to figure out which one would was strong enough to work on the probes. Which meant he'd have to try the first one, and if that didn't work, he'd have to try the second one. Determination set in, and he promised himself that he'd try them all if he had to; the Dark Knight was a good thing to have on their side.

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"We made it," Tim said, near tears. "We're back at the manor. See, I don't break promises."

The manor had never looked so beautiful. So big and daunting, but home enough.

Tim's left arm was killing him. Pushing the wheel on the wheel chair gave Tim a whole new appreciation of people who had to use them. They were no joke and a killer on the arms. But then, his arms were nothing compared to the way his back felt. It wasn't just the slash that hurt anymore, the pain was spreading all down his back. He didn't think he was bleeding that heavily anymore, but he felt vertigo happen enough times to know he had lost a lot of blood.

"But how do we get in?" Ryan asked. "We could ring the doorbell."

"No," Tim said, shaking his head. "Alfred can't know about the injuries. No one can. You have no idea what kind of heat we'll get for pulling this stunt. We're already in enough trouble. Look, we got ourselves into this mess, we need to get ourselves out."

Even out of Tim's mouth, he sounded crazy. Hiding an injury was one thing, hiding a wound was another. And these were serious wounds. But Tim didn't need Bruce coming down on them... on _him_... again, and he was sure he'd regret telling the man later. No, it was better to just suck it up and hold out.

"And how do expect us to get in?" Ryan asked, "We're down here. The window is up there. I can't fly in pain like this."

"We'll just go around and take the elevator up. Easy as pie."

"Mm hm," Ryan sounded, but Tim could tell it was sarcastic.

And he had reason to be, Tim's 'great idea' wasn't really so great and his credibility was probably shot, but if he pulled through this, he knew things would get better. They had to, because they couldn't get any worse. Of course, though it could, and Tim saw exactly how, too.

He had just been staring at the house for a moment, but he had caught movement and immediately knew someone was in the house, probably looking out. They could already be spotted, but then, maybe they weren't yet.

"Lets go around this side," Tim suggested began turning the wheel before he counted ff. The last thing he needed was for them to get caught.

Tim had never really explored the outside of the house. He was more interested on the inside, but he knew their was an elevator around there somewhere. They just had to find it, without getting caught. Easy enough, it seemed._ Seemed._

Rounding the corner, Tim bit his lip. Another of his genius plans gone bad. But he mentally thanked Ryan for his quiet, because Tim knew he deserved a loud butchering.

"How are we going to cross _that_?" Ryan asked, his head motioning to the gigantic pool that blocked the way to the door that was _right_ behind it.

They couldn't go back around the other side of the house, because someone was watching though the window. It was this or turn themselves in.

"We can at least get clean," Tim said, and the look Ryan gave him was simply weary.

But he didn't object, even though Tim knew he wanted to. He took note of Ryan's typical passiveness, and it made him feel bad. The boy nearly never spoke up against something, and Tim had to wonder how many decisions he was used to making for himself.

"We have to leave the chair," Tim said, "But the door is right there and the elevator is just inside."

Ryan nodded, and Tim kicked at the brake, hoping it locked fully. He would be lying if he said his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. There was practically no light on the side of the house, the only light coming from the moon and a distant street light. The water was black and moved eerily, and Tim realized with a start how cold it must be. He even shuddered a bit when he thought about getting in it.

But he shook the thought from his mind. He spotted several of the pool toys off to the side; noodles, floaties, a big Dalmatian dog that you could sit on. They were within arms reach and Tim figured he'd prefer to float across rather than swim. Moving his arms had nearly killed him, full-fledged swimming was drown him for sure.

"I'll go first," Tim suggested when neither of them moved, and allowed his body to go limp, slowly sliding off of the wheel chair.

He bit his lip again when he leaned back to hard and his back pressed up against the chair. He was wishing again that the lady had gotten his leg. Or arm. Or chest. Anything but his back.

Ryan took that moment to copy Tim's move and slid down the chair too. Tim watched on, a bit in a daze at how Ryan's face didn't change aside from the occasion tense or twitch. A passing though suggested that Ryan was probably more attuned to pain than Tim was, but Tim didn't want to think about that. It seemed cruel.

Tim suddenly heard a click, a click that told him he hadn't hit the brakes fully and suddenly, the chair sped backwards from both he and Ryan's leaning on it. Tim had reached up from reflex to try to grab the chair, but stopped halfway, hissing in pain. Ryan had thankfully been on the ground, but he had been leaning back on it heavily. Tim managed to grab his arm and kept him from falling back, but Ryan offered no help in trying to support himself.

Tim managed to hold on to Ryan for a second more before his entire body seemed to shut down and he fell back, just catching himself by leaning back on his arms. For a minute, he just sat there, trying to calm his racing heart.

"You alright?"he asked, turning to Ryan, who he had dropped, but Ryan was still.

"Ryan?" he asked again, and when the boy didn't respond again, he reached a hand out and poked his arm.

Ryan woke with a start, and Tim yelped from the suddenness, but Ryan's eyes rolled back and his body went limp. For a moment, Tim did nothing but watch, but when the shock passed he screamed louder than he had ever heard himself scream before. It was nothing coherent and nothing like his typical scream was. It high pitched and scratchy and panicked and he screamed some more, until his throat was dry and raw.

It wasn't that he was freaked out or that Ryan passing out was something he would have never expected, because in hind sight, it was. But it was because he knew that even if he screamed all night, no one would hear him. The house was big and sound proof; unless some came out near that side of the house, he was alone completely. And seeing Ryan's eyes roll back wasn't necessarily a happy image either.

His heart was pumping, his mind was racing, his pumping, and his back dulling. But he took the advantage of his null feeling body to roll over and grab the big Dalmatian and push into towards the pool. He pondered getting across himself and getting help for Ryan, but pushed the thought away when he thought about leaving him out in the dark alone.

The pool was just a foot away and Tim pulled himself until he was nearly in it and with tremendous effort, pulled Ryan by his foot towards him.

Tim's hands were shaking and he knew it was because he was afraid to get in the water. He could swim just fine, but who was to say the blow up dog could hold their weight? Could Tim _really _swim them both over to the other side with nothing? The pool was one of those big, in-ground monsters that Tim had always wished he had. And now that he had one, he hated it.

He beat his hand on the ground for a moment, refusing to relax and let his adrenaline go, sending him pain he knew would be worse than ever. So without even thinking anymore, he rolled himself into the pool.

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It had taken about five different explanations from Rachel for him to finally get the sense of what had happened to really sink in. Dick wasn't sure at all what had really had, still though. He remembered fighting Chuckles with Kory. That was it. He didn't remember fighting Joker or getting hit with anything. And he _certainly _didn't remember making out with her. As far as he knew, she still wasn't talking to him.

He had woken up on the couch, where he was now, and Kory was stretched on the same one, but the opposite way. Victor was on his arm/computer, Gar was nowhere to be seen, Rachel was there, and his brother was asleep in the window... which was odd.

"Now that I know this happens," Raven explained, "I can try to find a way to change the healing process. It wont be easy, but I'll figure it out."

Dick wanted to respond, maybe thank her, because she had obviously gone through a lot, but he knew his voice would quiver and he didn't have the energy anyway. His whole body was shaking and he couldn't stop it. Not to mention his killer headache. He felt like he might pass out at any moment.

"These are side effects," Rachel explained, "A small price to pay, though. I've never even seen a healing process stopped. We're lucky your alive right now."

Great. That was just great.

**You alright, **she asked, probably figuring that he didn't want to speak, **Like I said, your lucky. Besides, the headache and the shaking wont last for long.**

_**How long are we looking at? **_He asked, happy his 'mental voice' didn't shake.

**I'd say a day or so. You may even be fine tomorrow.**

That was good enough news to send him back to sleep. If he slept now he might wake up and find himself back at his room in the tower and everything alright again.

**You should know though, **she said, and he knew he should have expected a catch, **that it would be wise of you to keep your distance from Kory for a while. Like I said, this is all new to me. At any giving time, the healing process may start again, whether you need it or not, and we'd be back to square one.**

And there was the catch. At the one time when he felt like he really needed to talk to her, she was pushed to a distance. He felt like he was in grade school and put in a time out. Why, for the life of him, couldn't things just go right for him?

His eyes drifted to Kory who was still out. She didn't look peaceful, her face tense and her fingers twitching, like she was just dying to start trembling like he was. The roots of her hair was black and he pulled his knees up to his chest.

He was causing her so much pain. He would have never thought that being connected would have cursed _her. _She got the bad end of the deal. Being connected to him was probably the worse thing that could happen to her. Every move and decision he made just ended up causing her more pain in the end.

It wasn't like he could close himself off to save her grief. He couldn't just stop talking to her. He loved her. And he was connected to her. And for the first time in his entire life, he found no way to save her. He could catch her or take a hit for her, because it was _him _hurting her. He loved her, but he simply hurt her too much. If he were silent, she'd eventually become silent too. If he tried to be more like her, she would _still _change. There was just no way that he could protect her.

"Dick," Rachel said, "You have to see that by trying not to effect her, you _are _effecting her. Your still new to this whole connection stuff, finding your balance wont be easy."

He hadn't meant her to hear any of that. Instead of responding, he buried his head in his knees. He just wanted to go to sleep now.

"You two just have to learn to live with each other. This isn't marriage. You cant divorce her."

He wasn't sure if he would divorce if he _could. _

He was seriously hating love right then.

"You should go to bed," Rachel said, and in an instant, she had dragged Nick from the window. "Make sure he gets to bed." she instructed.

Nick stretched, grumbling at Rachel and the two of them made their way down the hall. Dick wasn't sure _why _she felt like he needed a babysitter, but he didn't complain.

"How long was I out?" he asked his brother, only to receive a snicker.

"I bet you wish it was longer."

"I don't remember," he groaned, "Most of the night is a blur."

"Well, I'll catch you up. _I _was right, _you _were wrong. That make-out session you guys did in the back of the car was nothing compared to what you were _trying _to do in the alleyway."

Dick just groaned. And he had gotten hot and heavy in front of all of his friends. The icing on the cake if he could say so himself.

"What were you doing in the window?" he asked, suddenly, "And asleep?"

There was a sharp drop in Nick's mood and it made Dick's head throb harder. He seriously needed to give the telepathic powers a rest for a while.

"Dick," Nick started, "There's something you need to know... about Tim and Ryan."

There was foreboding in the way Nick spoke and Dick could hear his urge not to say anything at all. It made him make a left in the hallway, when he normally made a right and headed towards Tim's room.

"Please tell me their alright."

Nick clearly didn't want to respond.

"Look-" he started.

"Why can't we keep a good track of Tim?" Dick asked out loud, "Ever? Who is he, Batman?"

"That's the best comparison I could give you right now."

"What about Vic and Gar? I mean, don't they know how to babysit?"

"Please." Nick uttered, and Dick felt his mood drop again at the just the mention of their names.

Honestly, Nick either needed to get his revenge or stop mopping around. But then again, it wasn't like Nick to get revenge of any kind, even if he knew it would make him feel better. Nick was just too nice for that. But... Dick wasn't. He always _was _considered the evil twin in comparison. Maybe a little evil on his part could finally get his brother back to normal. It was killing him to see his brother so down.

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The only thing Tim would see was blackness, and it served only to force him to panic.

The water was freezing cold, his body went numb almost instantly, good for his back, but bad for the rest of him. He felt like he was drowning in cement.

Making himself calm down, he kicked his legs and broke the surface faster than he thought he would. He coughed in the air and took gasping breaths, but the air was cold too and he began a violent dance of shaking.

His head dunked under the water and he had to force his body to swim. It was a horrible feeling having his body want to do something totally different than what he wanted. So bad, it seemed, that it wanted to just cease moving, to just let him sink, but for obvious reasons he fought it. He ducked down again, and frustrated, he broke the surface with violent thrusts. Finding the pool dog, he grabbed on. In hindsight, the pool noodles would have probably been easier to hold onto, the dog being big and round and now slippery, but he wasn't sure how they would hold on to his and Ryan's weight. He knew the dog was strong enough.

Kicking with his legs, he managed to ease back up to the side of the pool and grabbed onto Ryan's foot. He used the side of the pool to kick off of and pulled Ryan closer to the edge. He knew he'd end up under the water again so he prepared himself and pulled Ryan the rest of the way.

Though he had been expecting to dip under water, it hadn't even gone through his mind that Ryan might have been a little heavier than he had thought and he might have been pulled off the dog entirely. And yet, that was exactly what had happened. Ryan slipped into the water and Tim had been dragged off of the dog and down with him.

Darkness seemed even more threatening, and Tim couldn't determine which way was up. Gripping Ryan's shoulders, he switched to holding him under his arms. It would be a disaster if he had lost his grip and Ryan had slipped away. There was no way he'd be able to find him in the dark.

Calming down, he allowed himself to float long enough to find out which way was up and kicked his legs furiously. And even then, his legs were slow and sluggish, his body tardy to respond. It scared him that at any minute, his body could just stop and he could drown. That he could simply die in the pool next to Ryan. That come spring and summer, Alfred would open the pool expecting to find a frog or two, but would instead find two bodies floating in the dark and dirty pool water and everyone would stop wondering what had happened to them. And he'd be buried next to his parents and Bruce would shake his head because he had expected Tim to die in a stupid way from the beginning. Because it was quite clear early on that he was a dunce, not fit to wear a cape or mask. And if it weren't for Ryan, no one would probably even look for him, because no one really cared about orphans anyway.

And just as that thought came to mind, he finally broke the surface again, but the pool dog was nowhere to be found. Tim found himself sink under again, and wearily, he managed to bring himself and Ryan back above the water. He kicked with his legs, but his mind went groggy and he felt as if he couldn't remember how to swim right. He wasn't even sure if he was even swimming, and if he was, could he be going in circles?

His body jolted with a start and he found himself underwater. He wasn't sure if he had passed out or fallen asleep or what, but he nearly expected death then. He swam harder, and breaking the surface, he wished hard that he had just one pool noodle. Something to give him a little support. He'd choose the noodle over warmer water, because he knew the biting chill of the pool had been what had kept him up for this long.

His head suddenly bumped concrete and he glanced up with weary eyes to find he had finally reached the other edge of the pool. Or did he swim a circle and this was where he had begun?

Pulling Ryan closer, he attempted to get him up onto the edge, but he failed quite miserably and ended up back under water. He tried again, almost loosing Ryan that time. But he kept trying, taking small breaks in between those times. On what seemed like his millionth try, he managed to get Ryan halfway out of the pool, but his arms buckled and Ryan slipped back in.

He screamed in frustration. Then he smashed his hands in the water, like a child would. He kicked his legs angrily. Then he screamed again. His nostrils were flaring and his heart was racing. He didn't doubt himself this time, for some reason he knew he could do it, and with little effort, pushed Ryan up out of the pool and without even so much as another breath, he pulled himself out as well.

But he didn't dare lay down. The moment he did he'd be out like a light and catch his death in the cold. And come summer, Alfred would find two dead bodies _by _the pool, and that was even more pathetic than in it.

On shaky legs, he attempted to stand up. But some sick turn of events made the world swim before his eyes and suddenly, he was back in the water. He was almost tempted to just float there, but he knew he had to get Ryan inside of the house and pulled himself back up to the surface. He used Ryan's body to help pull himself out of the pool, and for a moment he just sat on his hands and knees. He knew he was crying because his nose was running, but for his own pride he tried to convince himself that it was just the pool water running down his face.

He half crawled, half heaved himself forwards and away from the pool. Again, he tried to stand, but found himself falling back down to the ground before he could get a good balance. He tried again. And again. And again. And then he gave up, because tiring himself was doing him no good.

Grabbing Ryan's shoulder, he pulled the boy to him, then crawled back some, and then pulled Ryan again. He did this little piggy-back crawl all the way to the house. The pain in his back was back, but he didn't care anymore. It was actually keeping him awake.

He grabbed the back door, satisfied that it wasn't locked. If it had been, he'd of laid down and just died, right there. The moment he pushed open the door, warmth coated him and the smell food wafted out. He was hungry, but he didn't dare even think about going to the kitchen. Alfred cooking this late at night only meant the man was panicking. And he and Ryan probably had a good part in the reason.

The hallway was short and the elevator was right at the end of it. Tim managed to get them both down the hall and into the elevator. He dimly noted how soaked he was as they rode to his floor level, but that seemed as important as what the pool looked like. At night it w as black, but come day it might have a little blood tint to it. But again, it didn't matter.

The elevator dinged and Tim pulled himself and Ryan out. His room was right across the hall and Tim pulled themselves into the room in a haze. Everything was going fuzzy for him. He didn't even feel any pain in his back anymore, and that was good and bad.

Using Ryan's bed for support, he pulled Ryan up onto it and covered him in his blankets. He aware they were both still soaking wet, but he could nothing about it. He cranked the heat up in his room before throwing himself onto his bed and pulling his blankets up over his head.

There was a creaking sound and Tim knew his bedroom door was opening. He was too numb to react to anything, so he just listened as he heard Dick and Nick talking quietly to themselves. There was more creaking, like one of them was coming, but it stopped and he heard Dick whisper that they should let them sleep. The door closed back and Tim prayed for just that; sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

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><p>AN: So, how did you like it? If you don't tell me, I shall never write more of this story again, and you guys are so close to the end, too! Like, seriously, it may not seem like it, but you are. My noggin and I agree, it's about time to bring this to an end. But again, there is a sequel already in progress. Don't disown me yet... please.

Let me see, was there something else I wanted to say? Probably. I just can't remember. I have a bad memory anyway, heredity.

Anyway, **_Read and_****_ Review_**, if you want to live!

Muahahahahahahahahaha

_ScarletDrake


	24. Breakfast is always the Same

Welcome Back, my fellow readers.

As always, I apologize for this taking so long. You guys should know it takes me probably longer than most to type these, but come on, its a long story!

Am I right?

Or not, it okay, really.

Anyway, ignore errors and please, enjoy!

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

Sometimes, the human brain thinks it can influence the way the earth works.

Like feeling like crap, and expecting it to rain cats and dogs.

Because this was so, Tim felt the need to hit something. He felt like death, and yet there was the sun. Shining bright and happy and full. No clouds in the sky. Probably the nicest day of day of the year. And again, he felt like death.

He lay on his bed, face down, arm hanging off the bed, the same way he had dropped the night before. He had expected to just pass out and sleep the day away, but he had been in for a horrible night. He probably would have tossed and turned if he had the energy and strength to do so. Instead, he had lain still, shivering, but too tired to get up and close his window (or his shades, for that matter). The only thing that he could possibly, remotely, move was his head. Which, of course was aching.

Ryan had yet to wake up, and honestly, it had Tim a little worried. Of course, the boy had superhuman healing, right? Why, then, was Tim the one awake and not Ryan?

The door to Tim's room burst open so fast that it slammed backwards and hit his wall with a thunderous _crack._ Tim could almost swear he had a heart attack and just died. Right there. Just then. With shear will was he able to jump-start his own heart again.

He turned his head to see who had exploded into his room like that, but met the stern, blue eyes of Bruce. There was an extra wrinkle in his forehead. His eyes looked more tired than angry. His mouth was more of a frown than a stern and he had dark bags under his eyes. Maybe it was his detective mind over analyzing things, but to Tim, Bruce looked more... human.

Which was odd, because at the moment, he was a zombie.

"I did it!" was vibrating down the hall and with the door open, Tim could hear Gar screaming from a mile away.

Bruce turned and walked away, but Tim knew the man wanted him to follow.

"Did you hear me?" Gar asked, jumping into Tim's room.

He looked as if he had pulled an all-night-er. His clothes wrinkled in a way that would make Alfred swoon. His eyes dark and a little red. Hair a mess. Hyper. Definitely an all-night-er.

"We all heard you," Tim told him, watching as Gar jumped in his spot.

"I cracked it," Gar went on, "I had to go through some 80 thousand codes, but I found the right one. Right at the bottom. Next to the last one. The kill code. It worked!"

"What did you kill?"

"What do mean 'what did I kill'?" Gar asked, looking almost insulted.

"I mean, _what did you kill_? Kill code for what?"

"For zombie Bruce." Gar said, his head shaking in almost disbelief. "Here, it's a celebratory leftover!"

He took that moment to pull a plate from absolutely thin air and put down a plate of what looked like a blob of white tofu and a glass of milk. Only Gar could possibly bring in tofu as a sort of celebration.

"Eat up," he said, putting the plate on Tim's dresser.

"Oh yeah," Tim said sarcastically, "Because I just _love_ my tofu and toothpaste together. Couldn't you wait until I actually got up?"

"Don t forget the milk," he called, missing Tim's sarcasm entirely, or possibly to happy to be phased by it.

Victor walked by the room then, sweat pants on and a big t-shirt, and Gar turned his attention to him.

"I did it!" he yelled, following Victor to probably say the same thing again.

Some kind of meeting was about to happen, and Tim didn't want to miss it. And yet, he didn't want to move either. He laid there for another few seconds before deciding that he'd better get up before someone came looking for him.

With tremendous effort, he managed to roll himself onto his back and sit up. The pain wasn't as sharp, but it was definitely there. More like a spreading numbness. A numbness that held electric shocks of pain. Yeah... that was more accurate.

Tim chucked a pillow at Ryan, relieved when a groan came from the boy. At least he was alive.

Using his bed for support, Tim managed to stand up. His legs weren't as jello-y as he thought they'd be, but his balance was far from what he expected. He hadn't even stood up fast, but he felt vertigo hit and suddenly he felt like he'd vomit. He teetered for a minute, letting go of his bed to try to regain his stature, but it was no use. He felt like he was walking on stilts. No, worse. Like he was walking no stilts... on ice.

But he pushed down whatever was threatening to come up from his stomach and walked towards Ryan's bed. He was glad no one could see him. He was walking like a newborn baby. Shaky. Unsteady. Unbalanced. He tilted too far to his left and his legs weren't fast enough to catch him, so he fell on his side, the shock of hitting the ground breaking off some of his numbness and leaving the electric shock of pain.

He sat on the ground for a moment. Trying desperately to push down that pain. Batman would simply stand up and walk it off. But Tim couldn't shake it. It was there and it seemed 10 times worse than the very moment he had gotten it.

His lip quivered, adding to his image of infancy, and he simply laid back on the floor. Someone would come find him, and the first person that did Tim would confess to.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

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><p>OoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

No one had time to hover around Bruce. He didn't like it and he didn't have time for it. He meaningfully went to Alfred first, assuring the man that he was back to normal, then went around to all the rooms, waking everyone up. It was 6. They should have been up anyway.

At first, he had dragged Garfield around. Every chance he got he spent sending a glare the boy's way. It wasn't that he was angry or ungrateful, quite the contrary (though he'd never tell), it was just that he got a little more information from the boy with each glare than a question would. His last glare had sent the boy into a monologing rage and he had learned all about Dick and Nick's parents being back. The glare before that he had learned about Ryan, Kory's apparent long-lost brother. He simply was getting himself up to date with what he had missed. Or lived through, rather, and didn't remember.

And Nick always said the bat-glare was meaningless.

It had many more sides to it than intimidation.

Bruce had led them all in a single file down to the batcave. The best place for him to think and to really figure out what was happening. And more importantly, what would happen next.

"Sir," Alfred said, catching up with him as he made his way down the batcave's stairs, "The boys, Tim and Ryan, aren't up yet."

"Wake them," Bruce instructed, "They need to be here for this."

Tim. One of the oddest things Bruce had learned about his situation. Apparently, the boy had been around for a while, but even stranger, he had been adopted. Bruce didn't remember knowing any kids named Tim and he certainly didn't remember adopting anyone anytime soon. Not to mention the fact that Tim is now trained in who knew what kind of martial arts. All this meant was that whoever had him under control must have adopted Tim... but why? Who was Tim and how did he fit into the big picture?

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the first thing Bruce noticed was that the computer was still on and running. A batcave no-no. _No one, _leaves the bat-computer on. Bruce sent a real glare back to Garfield, and the boy shrunk back behind Victor.

Victor... was much taller in person.

"You caught up?" Dick asked, coming up beside him, "You missed a lot."

"I'm good enough for now," he responded, "Still a few blank spots, but we'll fill them in as we go."

Bruce sat in his usual chair at the computer. Apparently, Garfield had done his job, but had just got up and left. Nothing was closed out and deleted. Everything was just sitting there. For wondering eyes. Bruce grit his teeth, but didn't say anything. Instead, he began closing out the folders and tabs that were up. The... unusually random and unfamiliar folders. Bruce liked to begin his research and work on a clean slate, anything unnecessary was exited out. But a few of the folders were new to him, and Bruce knew _everything_ that was on his computer.

Seeing a folder called 'Tim', hidden in a hidden file made him raise an eyebrow. Hidden folders were his thing. Odd.

"You have a folder?" Bruce asked, to no one in particular.

One of the girls, the pale one with the purple hair he knew as Raven, pointed at a folder. It had no name, simply being called [folder], but it was separated off to the side.

Bruce opened it, its neatly placed files organized the way Bruce had always taught. There was one that caught his eye. [Deaths], it said, and Bruce couldn't help but click on it. There was a single name, **Jervis Tech**. He half turned towards Nick, expecting an answer.

"Killed a few days ago," Nick spoke up, "Jervis is responsible for creating the nanobots that had you under control. He was poisoned in his cell by, who we think, is Slade."

Exiting out of that folder, Bruce spun around in his chair. Everyone was gathered around him. But they didn't look like the lost children he had expected to see. Instead, they looked like a team. They looked strong. They weren't little kids who destroyed the nanobots because they didn't know what else to do. They looked like heroes, who destroyed the nanobots because they _could_. Because it was right. They had everything else under control.

And he had to take a back seat to them on this.

"So, whats the plan?" he asked, and they all actually took physical steps back.

Dick, Nick, Kory and Victor looked surprise. Garfield looked ready to explode. Rachel's eyebrow raised and Bruce knew her mode of communication. He used it himself. That simple eyebrow raise actually meant a squeal of surprise in their language.

It was these hilarious, little moments that he lived for.

"Your... asking... us?" Gar squeaked. "Dude, seriously?"

"I've been out of the loop," Bruce said, rolling his eyes for effect, "This is your mission."

They all shared cautious looks with each other, like they thought he may have been playing a prank, but slowly, Victor pressed something on his 'normal-looking' arm. A blue holograph popped up, where a red dot was pulsing.

"The red dot is a key we found," Victor explained, "We've got evidence that it's going to a Gunner Wilson, the head of this operation. Apparently, the key has stopped moving and is now in..."

"Bludhaven." Dick read over his shoulder, "The outskirts too."

"Shady area," Bruce commented, looking at the screen.

"There are a handful of these keys," Victor continued, "But they're custom-made, fit for one single thing. We're not sure what yet but at least we know where they're going. Rupert Thorne is sending them around under the radar, so this one key is basically our only hope."

Bruce grunted. A lot of uncertainty was hanging in the balance of that one key, it seemed, but they had faced the improbable before. Clicking out of the page, Bruce moved to add [Gunner Wilson] to his watch-list of criminals. He opened up one of his familiar files, then suddenly hearing a small gasp. It wasn't loud, only his trained ears probably hearing it.

"Whose that?" Dick asked, pointing at the screen to his latest add to the list.

"A man named Doris Ace. Goes by the name The Deck. He's another one of those card masters."

"Cooooorrrrnnnnnyyyyy," Gar echoed quietly.

"Kory and I ran into him a while back," Dick said, leaning back with his arms folded, "He _is _corny, but he's fast. Not much of a threat is he?"

"Not at all," Bruce said, closing out the page, "The worst he's done was blow off a motel front door. Not smart enough to break out of jail, but dumb enough to try to rob a bank. He's no one."

At the mention of Kory's name, Bruce looked at her through the glass's reflection. He had somehow had the impression that she was loud and happy, no matter what time of day it was. And yet oddly, she hadn't said a word. Instead, she was quietly standing behind them all, carefully staring at the computer screen. Her eyes held confusion, but she seemed to try and bypass that to focus, yet it didn't seem to be working.

In one of his bat-glares to Garfield he found that the fight with Joker had messed with her and Dick's head a little. Garfield hadn't said how or why, but it seemed to be effecting Kory at the moment. He'd have to make sure Dick knew to get her back on track. It wouldn't due to have her in that condition and try to fight.

Shutting down the computer, Bruce decided he'd rather look through the files when everyone wasn't looking. There was a low growl...another one, probably the 5th he'd heard, and Victor tried to smother his stomach with his hands.

"Gar and Vic need to eat," Dick said, as if he were talking about two dogs, "They cant function without food."

"Fine." Bruce said, "I need to change. There are some things at the Enterprise that I want to check on."

With that, Bruce marched up the stairs, leaving Dick and everyone else in the cave. They all slowly filtered out the room and up the stairs behind him. Dick slunk back a bit though, matching Kory's sluggish pace. She clearly wasn't herself that morning; slow, tired, out of it. Dick had to wonder if the 'healing process' was taking its time with her. He had woke up relatively fine. No monstrous headache or aching.

"You alright?" he asked her, making sure he kept his voice low and soothing.

For a moment, she didn't say anything. Merely stopped walking up the many cave stairs and bit her fingernail. It was almost as if she were debating whether or not that question was worth answering. Hopefully, she wasn't still bent up on finding out what had happened at the fundraiser. Honestly, what had happened wasn't his fault. At all. It was a chain-line of events neither could have foretold. It wasn't fair that he was blamed for them.

"I am fine." she said at last, moving up the stairs again.

"Your sure?" he asked, grabbing her arm and stopping her.

His fingers tingled when he touched her. It was an odd feeling of rightness, and he didn't dare let go of her arm. It was a weird feeling, not uncomfortable, but deeply accurate. As if somehow, he had done something perfect, and his body was rewarding him with a perfect sense of stability. Or knowledge. Or something. He wasn't sure.

Guided by some unknown force, he went up another stair towards her. The others were upstairs, probably chowing down on something Alfred had whipped up. But Dick had no desire, whatsoever, to leave the spot he was in. No desire to move. Or think. Or breathe. It was like watching a perfect movie where you knew the ending would be good. It's that anticipation that he felt. That knowing that something really good was about to happen. It overshadowed any unpleasant thoughts or feelings that he had. There was no room for foreboding in his mind. Something great was going to happen and he didn't care that something not-so-great may just follow it up.

He was a step below her, but he was still an inch taller than her. They were practically eye to eye and in that moment, it seemed as if her emerald eyes were sparkling. She felt the same way he did, he could tell, and knowingly, he attached his lips to hers.

It was like lightning. Everything suddenly made sense. The earth stopped moving and it gave him time to catch up with it. He actually felt _physically _stronger. But it wasn't the _feel_ of her silken lips on his that was enticing him. Oddly enough, it was the feeling he _got_ from it. As if she were somehow feeding a starving part of him. Like somewhere in him, someplace too deep for him to notice, was raving and starving and angry and mad, and somehow, she had found a way to calm and feed it.

And he liked that. Liked that a lot. Loved that even. Needed that. Imagine not eating. Ever. Your first meal would feel like heaven. And heaven she surpassed.

She opened her mouth before he did, and the invitation to taste her was too great to ponder. It was just something he had to experience. Of all the kissing they had shared over the past few days, this was by far the best. Perhaps it was because he was better accustomed to the act. Maybe it was because he not only felt his pleasure, but hers as well, adding to his experience. Maybe it was the fact that he knew exactly what she liked and she knew exactly what he liked.

Whatever the reason, he chose not to think about it. Now was not the time to think. Not the time at all.

Despite being a little taller than her, he stepped up to the step she was on. She stood on her toes to try and keep their lips attached, but she didn't need to. He leaned down a little and pushed down on her, his height giving him the advantage of control that he had wanted. He controlled the direction now. The pressure. The speed. And at that moment, he wanted all of her.

His hands that had firmly been at his side, twitching and waiting for their moment to move, raised from their spot with anxious fury. One settling on her hip, the other in her hair. He pulled her closer to him, his fingers flexing, biting into her skin. She twitched a little at the sudden movement, but he sensed she didn't think it was unpleasant. She had been waiting for it. Her hands sprang to life, too, and she nearly jumped him. Her arms wrapped tight around his neck, gripping his hair and trying to bring them even closer together.

The tiny tongue dips that they had been doing in each others mouth had been covered in shyness. A rush of excitement when they accidentally bumped one another. Awkwardly running their tongue over each others teeth and quick pecks, touching the side of each others mouth. He didn't want to overwhelm her and she probably hadn't wanted to make the first eager move. But shyness was gone now and he made the first move pushing his whole tongue in her mouth. He didn't want to gag her, so he kept it light, but she pushed back with equal intensity and suddenly, he didn't worry anymore. Suddenly the dance of shyness was gone and he felt more like it was war than a graceful waltz.

Who could push the furthest? Who dominated? It was a battle of wits and his new goal was getting a sound out of her before she got one from him. Which was harder than he had expected. Every other move she made, every pull she made to his hair, elicited a growl deep in his throat. One he hadn't even been aware he had been making until satisfaction flowed from her mind and he realized he had lost the game.

His eyes, that had previously been closed, snapped open for a moment so that he could get his orientation back. He had lost it long ago, his knees holding him up being the wonder of the world. Once he found his way, a smirk edged on his lips for a moment before he snatched his hand from her hair and placed it on her hip. With both hands, he picked her up and spun her around, getting a high pitched squeal from her, and he pushed her so that her back was on the wall of the cave.

The game of sounds was called as a mental truth and he switched sides of kissing her. He put one of his hands on the wall, vertigo hitting him hard. But it was her, he was sure. She made him dizzy. He needed that dizziness. He loved it.

That hidden part of him was still hungry, and while she was feeding him just fine, he needed more. Faster. Harder. More. It was an almost uncomfortable need for her. It was all that he could think of. All that was on his mind. It made his hands tremble and his knees shake. It was near overwhelming and he wasn't sure just how long he could handle the need.

He picked her up with strong, but shaky, arms and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He clutched at her back, certainly bruising it, and pulled at her hair. He wasn't just kissing her anymore, he was dimly aware, it felt more like he was eating her. There was nothing elegant or fluent about the kiss. It was sloppy and he couldn't keep himself calm enough to actually get his tongue back in her mouth. He kept switching sides he wanted to tilt his head on but it only proved to frustrate him when he couldn't decide.

She pulled back a little, her forehead resting on his so that she could catch her breath, but he couldn't stop. Didn't have time. His need for her was growing and he didn't know how else to satisfy it. Stopping, though, was definitely out of the question. He jammed his tongue back in her mouth, finally settling on a direction to keep his head. He was drooling. Literally, like some kind of animal, drooling. And that may have been okay if he had been _really_ kissing her. But his adrenaline was so high that he couldn't keep still. He kissed wherever he found skin. The side of her mouth. Her neck when she needed a breath of air. Her hair when she turned for a moment.

There was a sudden thought of needing to stop. That maybe what he was doing was wrong. There was something seriously wrong with him. Something bad. The fact that he couldn't separate himself from her wasn't good. It was a lack of control. Something he had a problem with... but she licked his lips and it was game on again. He didn't know how this had started, but it was exhausting him. In a great way, of course. But in a bad way too. It was too confusing for him to think about.

Vertigo hit him again, harder. He put a hand against the rock wall of the cave again for support. His hands trembled harder. It was a horrible feeling of being light-headed and tired all at once. He felt like he had the night before. When he had talked to Rachel...

When she had warned him about being near Kory... especially alone. Was this what she had warned him about?

He knew this was bad, but even so, he couldn't make himself move. He could separate himself. There was some unseen hold on him keeping them together. There was near no pleasure in the kiss now as that uncomfortable thought settled in. This felt so wrong... because it was. They were still in a healing process. He couldn't, _wouldn't, _be able to separate himself from her.

He couldn't even pull back for air, which he felt like he seriously needed now. It wasn't that he was physically stuck to her, it was just that he felt immobilized. Like his brain was somehow blocking an important motor skilled that would allow him to move. His adrenaline rush was gone now, and he was running on no energy anyway.

She dropped from his arms, where he had been trying, but suddenly failed, to support her weight, but he managed to catch her and gently put her down. He swayed for a second, nearly sending them both hurtling down the stairs, but steadied himself on the cave wall again. He moved his other hand from her hip, it feeling wrong now, and put it on her face. He wanted to force himself to turn away, but the thought was cast aside when he felt her face was wet. Soaked. Salty. She was crying.

She understood. Much like he did, and she could do nothing about it either. Maybe she realized their predicament the same time he did, or maybe before. Had she tried to stop, or had she just been breaking to get air?

His knees went out and he dropped to them, but even then, he pulled her down and they still were together. From what Rachel had told him the night before, they may not separate for a while. Which would be very awkward, because now that they were both aware of what was happening, neither of them were moving. It was like kissing a wall.

Not to mention the fact that breathing was hard. And his vertigo was near overwhelming. Perhaps it was a result of being breathless, but he doubted it.

His mind was trying to process escape routes and possible scenarios that would get them both out of their predicament, but like lightning, his mind forgot the topic and he cringed at a sudden headache. He groaned, his hands going to his head. His mind went fuzzy and he was sure it was just a severe sense of vertigo. Vertigo, after all, made you feel like you needed to vomit.

His head, suddenly, was yanked back hard by his hair, and just like that, he and Kory were separated.

"Sorry," came Rachel's voice as she loosened her hold on his hair. "I didn't know how else to stop you."

Dick wasn't angry at her. He might have thanked her if his head had been torturing him a little less. Using the cave wall for support, he managed to stand up. He offered a hand to Kory, but she hesitated and he let his hand drop. No, maybe that wasn't a great idea.

"This is my fault," Rachel said, helping Kory stand up, "I know I told you to stay away, Dick, but I should have been paying attention."

"The fault isn't yours," Kory said, holding on to Rachel and making her way up the stairs, "Something felt wrong to me before."

"You didn't get the explanation," Dick spoke up, "I did."

"Alright," Rachel interrupted, "We're all at fault here. It's over. We're moving on."

Dick had no problem with that. Moving on sounded like a great idea.

"Everyone's in the dinning room." Rachel said as they got to the top of the stairs, "Your both expected."

"Expected?" Dick asked, his hand still on his aching head, "I feel like _dieing._"

"Side effects." she answered, "We've interrupted yet another healing process. There are consequences to that kind of stuff. At least, though, you made yourself aware this time."

"What?" he asked, his headache distracting him from most of what she had said.

"Did you, or did you not, realize something was wrong?" she asked, as if talking to a child.

"Yes, but-"

"Then you made yourself aware. Both of you." she said, turning to Kory. "I worried that we wouldn't be able to figure out how to change this healing process, but the both of you keeping that primitive state down and staying aware is a step in the right direction."

Dick still wasn't totally sure what Rachel was talking about, but he nodded his head anyway and made his way down the hallway and to the dining room. He was probably in for a long breakfast. If he managed to keep his food down and not vomit all over the table, he'd call it a success.

"How long should we expect these side effects?" he asked Rachel, his hand on the wall to keep his balance.

"Not too long," Rachel said, "It didn't last nearly as long as you last healing process and you got yourself out of it pretty quickly too. A few hours will probably do it."

A few hours. He might live through that. That would mean he'd be good and ready to go out by nightfall.

He was tired of sitting around the house. They had enough clues to get to where they needed to go. They could shut things down once and for all and then go home. They had Bruce back to normal and that meant an extra player on their side.

"Your not going anywhere tonight." Rachel said casually, "You need more time than that to get yourself together."

"I can't sit around anymore," he said, not bothering to get upset that she had read his mind, "We have enough information to go and get this over with."

"You don't realize," she said, stopping to block his way. "This healing process was and is a big deal. Your mind is in shambles right now. If I wasn't suppressing your powers right now, Kory and you would be dead. You need, at least, 3 hours of meditation just to make sure you don't accidentally kill yourselves."

How much had Rachel suppressed their powers in the last few days? However she did it, she did it without him knowing because he had had no idea.

"One day." he gave in to.

"Two," she countered, "Minimum."

"Fine," Kory answered for him and she continued on her way.

He had actually planned on countering Rachel with a day and a half, but he supposed Kory was right. They were no good fighting when they weren't at their best. In reality, they had no idea what they were going up again. Gunner still was a bit of a mystery and Dick was sure Slade would be a big threat. Something told him they had gotten an easy, venerable side of Slade when they had fought. Dick, someone who fought Slade many times, knew the man hadn't given his hardest, not by a long shot. Why was beyond him, but he knew their next encounter wouldn't be so easy.

Reaching the dinning room, it appeared as it no one had even began eating. Alfred was still placing food on the table. Dick had had the impression that they had all chowed down and continued on their way.

"Look at all this tofu..." Gar drooled and Dick knew Victor would start the usual tofu/meat war and cause a racket.

It was going to get loud and Dick was going to die from his headache. He settled on being happy that he died around every breakfast food he'd ever loved. It was his comforting point.

"It's a shame poor Alfred had to handle the stuff," Victor said with mock sadness. "His skills are so past this."

"No," Gar parried angrily, "I'm sure he's honored to touch the delicious delicacy. It's the meat that he's above."

"That ain't true!"

"Yeah it is!"

Dick looked across the table to where Nick was boredly picking at some eggs on his plate. But he looked up and they made eye contact. Nick entire face shifted and Dick knew he looked worse for wear. But that was fair, because he felt worse for wear. Nick looked away, but his forehead still held that crease in it that meant he was thinking hard about something.

"I hate tofu. Tofu's nasty." Victor sang to the tune of Where is Thumbkin. "It shouldn't be here, shouldn't be here. Such a nasty food its, very very nasty. Run away. It should run away."

"Rachel make him stop!" Gar yelled, covering his ears.

Rachel merely flipped the page of the newspaper she was reading.

"Tim!" Gar said, turning to the boy for help, "Help me, please! I need to come up with a counter song!"

Dick turned to where the boy was currently hiding, seemingly trying to blend in with the table in the corner. His eyes were red and Dick suspected the boy didn't feel too well. He sat beside Ryan who didn't look too well either.

"You look a little pale Ryan," Kory spoke up, noticing the boys like he had.

"Yeah," Dick agreed, "You too Tim."

"Not feeling too good," Tim said.

"Me either," Ryan added.

"Do you suspect it's an insect?" Kory asked, turning to him.

"You mean a 'bug'" he corrected, "and maybe. I don't know."

Kory hummed to herself, and Dick knew she was still thinking. He could see it on her face. You could always tell how she felt, she wore every feeling she had on her face.

Tim, himself, was trying to keep any expression _off_ of his face. If any emotion, any at all, showed through his expressionless-wall, than it would show pain. A ibuprofen alone simply wasn't enough to combat mortal pain. But Alfred had been firm in that he and Ryan weren't allowed to take anything with more than 600 milligrams of medicine in it.

When Tim had told Alfred everything, the man had taken it surprisingly well and calm. Tim had still been laying on his back when Alfred had come to wake him and Ryan. Ryan was in better condition, (go figure), but that was because he healed faster than humans did in his sleep. He still had a huge, actually pretty cool, gash in his back, but his body secreted some un-human substance that numbed the pain to basically a dull pinch. It made him feel sleepy, but he wasn't in barely any pain. Alfred had taken a painful sample of that and was in the lab testing whether or not it would be okay for Tim to take. It would be the ultimate medicine.

But for now, he had to suffer with the stupid little ibuprofen trying its best to make him feel better. It was failing. Sitting up alone was painful, let alone leaning over to eat. He already felt like he'd throw up the slightest sip of water. He just had to settle at sitting at the table looking like he was ready to die, and Ryan falling asleep at him side.

Yeah, perfectly normal.

With a mild look of boredom, he tried to copy one of Nick's looks. Nick could looked like he could be asleep with his eyes open. But it was hard to be bored when the dinning room table was like a day at the circus. He wished he felt better so that he could join in on the fun.

Rachel had put down her newspaper and was yelling at Garfield and he was yelling back. Blah blah, something was pointless, blah blah, tofu was amazing. They always yelled at each other so Tim wasn't so amused. Victor was running around that table, singing a weird song about tofu being nasty. Kory had put her head down, like she may have been asleep. Dick was rubbing his temples. And Nick was now shooting things from his fork across the table. He seemed to be aiming for Rachel.

Victor ran past Tim, still singing, and slapped Ryan and Tim simultaneously on their backs. It was the hardy-hardy-fun-buddy type of thing. It was probably meant to be nothing but a pat on the back, but Victor was so much stronger than a normal person. And he hit hard.

Ryan jumped up from his sleep, shifted his back and shoulders, laid his head on Tim's shoulder, and was knocked out in seconds again. Tim, on the other hand, was extremely proud of himself for not crying out, but even he couldn't stop the few tears that fell over to his lap. Blinking rapidly, he pushed any other stray tears either out or back in eyes, and plastered a giddy grin on his face, choosing to show that instead of trusting his voice.

The food on the table suddenly became encased in black and everything popped up in an explosion. The food went as high as the ceiling, some things still dripping down, like the home-fries Alfred had made. Glasses shattered and juices spilled. Gar was laughing so hard he was crying, and Rachel looked ready to kill.

Apparently, Nick had finally made a good shot with a spoon full of eggs.

In the quiet, there were carefully placed footsteps heading towards them and everyone knew Alfred was coming. The sound of chairs screeching on the floor was deafening for a second as everyone scrambled to clear the room before Alfred instructed them to stay and clean.

Tim actually wanted to see Alfred, though, thinking the man may have found Ryan's toxin to be alright for him to use. Grabbing a few slices of American cheese off the table, in case Ryan got hungry, Tim woke Ryan up, gave him the cheese, and instructed him to lay on the couch in the room over. Ryan stood, swaying drowsily, and slowly went into the next room where he collapsed onto the couch.

Surprise never registered on Alfred's face when he entered the room. Apparently, nothing surprised the man, and if it did, his facial expressions where _his _prisoners, and not the other way around. Tim simply sat in his chair, getting up when Alfred motioned, and followed the man down the hall.

Following at the mans heals, Tim was led down to one of the unused studies. Well, unused to everyone else. Tim knew every room in manor and made it a personal goal of his to hide at least one of his things in each of them. He didn't know why he hid his things in the rooms, maybe to make the manor feel more like home. Common sense just told him that since he lost his yo-yo in one of them, he couldn't leave the other rooms empty. He was a perfectionist in that way. But the latter idea sounded much more dramatic, so he went with that explanation.

Alfred pointed to a swivel chair and Tim took a seat. This meant the antidote was okay to take or else Alfred wouldn't have led him there. Taking a seat, he looked at one of the floor panels. The very place where he hid his most hated tennis shoes. Hiding his stuff had an advantage.

Their was a _ting_ of a sound and Tim closed his eyes tight for a minute. He told himself that he wouldn't turn and look at the giant needle Alfred held and that he'd just count his breaths. Ryan had gone through it, and he hadn't even needed too. He'd done it just so they could check and see if Tim could use it. That was selfless. That was brave. That needed to be Tim at the moment.

Alfred plucked the needle again and Tim counted faster in time with his breathing. He was about 20 breaths over his norm, and he scolded himself for telling himself that. He was counting to calm himself, not remind him how much he was freaking out. But he couldn't help it. He hated needles. Hated hospitals. Hated being sick and seeing sick people. And he definitely, hated poison. The thought hurt him in a way people didn't understand. Not even himself.

"Your shirt, Master Timothy." Alfred spoke, and Tim was tempted to deny needing the poison.

Medicine. He reminded himself. This wasn't poison. It was medicine. Just medicine. Good, healthy, medicine.

With shaky hands, he pulled his shirt over his head and gripped it in his hands. The thick gauze Alfred had applied made him feel stiff and it was a relief when he cut it off. His back stung for a moment as Alfred brushed it with alcohol to clean it.

Medicine. Just medicine. He felt stupid for fearing something as simple as medicine. He was actually more afraid of what was in the syringe than the syringe itself.

He bet Batman wasn't afraid of needles and medicine.

The thought steeled him a little. He didn't want to be Batman, but he couldn't deny that he wanted to be a little like him. Strong. Dauntless. Never showing any fear. Swallowing hard, he tried to apply those tributes to himself. He leaned over on the desk, like Alfred was instructing, and gripped his shirt in his hands.

He was going to be fearless. He wasn't going to give in to this mediocre fear. He was stronger than that. He wasn't going to cry or scream and he was definitely going to stop shaking. Alfred was the best nurse there was and he was going to do what he needed to quickly and efficiently. It was his motto.

Tim tried to reason with himself that this probably wasn't even going to hurt like he thought it would. Just an injection into the gash. Pft, that was nothing, right? This was going to be over in a matter of seconds and he'd laugh about it on his way to his room. And he would never be afraid of needles or medicine or anything, because he was Batman's protegé. And Batman would eventually smile, and nod his head because he knew Tim was just as strong as he was. And things would be well. And happy. And he wouldn't worry so much. And the needle would probably be near his back now.

And it hurt like hell.

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Victor spent the rest of his morning getting his circuits in order. He hadn't had the time to check his systems since he'd been at the tower, which was dumb because the batcave was more than equipped to handle what he needed it too.

He removed his holograph ring and plugged his charger into the bat-computer, it being the best power-source in the cave, and sat back while his battery charged. It was one of his most boring responsibilities that he had to do, but being half robot required that.

Flipping open his arm, he wondered just what he could be doing. Something, he was sure, needed to be done. Some kind of adjustment or fix needed to happen. He needed to get ready for battle. He was sure Dick would turn into Robin soon and they'd be off to Bludhaven to fight with Slade and his dad, which was supper weird to think about.

Victor thought about taking some bat-weapons and adding them to his vast array of weapons, but decided he'd think more about it.

"Sup, dude." Gar said, strolling down the stairs, "Your not still mad at me for ruining breakfast, are you?"

"Nah," Victor waved off, "Wasn't your fault. I think Nick had planned to end it early anyway."

"Why else would he shoot eggs at Rachel?"

Gar made himself comfortable on the floor besides Victor. Victor paid him no mind, simply tapping into a familiar frequency and looking at the blinking red dot that signified the key's position. It hadn't moved. A swish sounded and Victor looked over to see Gar had opened the circuitry in his leg.

"What're you doing?" he asked, closing his leg back up.

"Haven't you heard," Gar argued, "I'm a hacker. I thought id fix your leg while I took off my _very_ busy schedule."

"Man, you are not a hacker," Victor said, shaking his head, "You found one kill code by trial and error. That doesn't make you a hacker."

"I went through a lot!"

"Besides, there's nothing wrong with my leg."

"That's what you think," Gar said, "But that red blinking light in your leg can't be good."

"That's just blinking because I'm charging," Victor sighed, leaning back, "Ain't nothing wrong."

"It's never blinked that fast before," Gar said indignantly and folded his arms.

Victor rolled his eye, but automatically opened his leg and peaked in.

"Nah," he waved off, "Ain't nothing wrong, it just means I'm taking in a lot of data and it's sorting it faster."

"Data?" Gar asked, and both his and Victor's eyes got wide.

"Quick!" Victor yelled, "Turn off the bat-computer. I am so dead!"

"No way," Gar laughed, "Keep downloading stuff. Looking at that stuff would be better than watching TV."

"I'm serious," Victor cried, trying to remember where the power button for the computer was, "If Batman finds out I've downloaded information from his computer he'll kill me!"

"Yeah," Gar agreed, "But I wont tell him. Who says he'll know?"

"He's Batman."

"Good point."

Gar stood up and expertly pressed the power button. He'd had a hard time finding it when he needed it, but now he knew exactly where it was.

"Hacker," he said, blowing on his nails and rubbing them on his shirt. "Admit it."

Victor ignored him, though and opened up his arm. But he breathed a sigh of relief a moment later.

"Look," he said, holding out his arm so Gar could see, "Nothing even downloaded."

Gar looked at the seemingly blank space.

"But I thought you said data had been sorting."

"I did, but maybe my system made a mistake. Must be time for an upgrade."

"Hold on," Gar said, pulling Victor's arm closer to him, "Maybe it one of those invisible files."

Pressing seemingly nothing on the screen, dozens of files and folders popped up. Gar recognized them well.

"What do you know about invisible folders?" Victor asked, turning to look at him, "What on earth _did _you do last night?"

"This is Tim's file." Gar said, scrolling down, "I saw it last night. This could entertain us for hours!"

Gar looked on silently as Victor opened a few folders, closed a few others. His mouth was totally agape by the time he even made it to the neatly placed 'H' section. It had taken Gar a while to figure out how the folder was organized, but apparently, it went by hero name, then real last name, and then gender. It was the oddest organization Gar had ever seen.

"And this is Tim's folder?" Victor asked.

"Yup," Gar said, shaking his head, "Crazy right?"

"But he's only 13."

"And already hacking the bat-computer. This is a proud day."

"Where do you think he's from?"

"Got to be Russia. Or maybe Tokyo. Some place high-tech, y'know?"

Honestly, though, Gar hadn't thought about it much. The boy just simply seemed to be there. Wherever you least expected it. He liked reappearing where he shouldn't. It was just... a Tim thing. Where he came from just seemed to take away from some of that magic.

But Victor was already searching through Tim's files. He apparently had trouble trying to figure out the organization as well. Eventually, he just typed it in the search box. Unfortunately, **[Tim Drake] **never popped up.

"Why would he have a folder on himself in there?" Gar asked, sarcastically, "So everyone could know who he was?"

"I don't know," Victor sighed, "He's got one on everyone else."

"Then there's only one thing left to do."

"What?"

"Google him."

Victor seemed to think about it a minute, but then pulled up the internet on his arm. Google had never failed Gar before, why start now?

"Tim Drake," Victor said aloud, as he typed.

About 6 trillion pages of different people popped up on the screen.

"Can we be more specific?" Gar asked, and Victor nodded.

"Lets take away anyone over the age of 14. And lets take away all the girls."

"There are girls named Tim?"

"Timara, maybe."

"Who spells it like that?"

"I don't know. But it would be a whole lot easier if we knew his middle name or something."

Victor caught sight of a cheetah running out his peripheral vision, but chose to ignore it as he took away people who had already died.

"Jack," Gar said, coming back a few minutes later. "He said his middle name is Jack."

"Timothy Jack Drake," Victor typed in, and more than half the Google pages disappeared. "A lot is coming up from the GCPD."

"Click on it, click on it," Gar said, bouncing on his heels. "The boy who knows everything about everyone is about to be discovered!"

"Shut up," Victor said, hacking around the firewalls. "The last thing we need is for him to come down and see what we're doing."

The file opened and Victor and Gar found themselves staring at tons of information.

"Is there a simplified version?" Gar asked, "Because that's a lot of reading."

"Lets narrow it down, then." Vic offered, "What do we want to know about first?"

"His parents," Gar said, nodding. "Definitely his parents."

Victor typed _parents_ into the files search engine and most of the words disappeared, leaving a short paragraph.

_Unfortunately, the ruthless Obeah Man later captured Tim's parents during a trip to the Caribbean. The Obeah man intended to sacrifice them, but Batman arrived to their rescue. Unfortunately, Janet and Jack both drank some water laced with poison, and Janet died, while Jack has disappeared and is still missing. Recently, the boy has been adopted by Bruce Wayne and while still under constant supervision, seems well enough._

That was it. That was all it said. Gar and Victor shared a look and Victor shut out of the page.

"What ever happened to his dad?" Gar asked, mostly to himself.

"He's presumed dead."

Victor and Gar spun around to the voice. Surprising both Victor and Gar, Tim stood, seemingly unfazed by the whole show.

"What?" he asked, noticing their faces, "You think id give away my middle name without finding out why?"

Gar gaped at Tim, but couldn't find the voice to say anything. The shock of being caught was always something he didn't deal too well with.

"This is just a funny story," Victor said, laughing nervously, "All a big misunderstanding."

"Yup," Gar pipped up, his voice sounding to high. "Misunderstanding."

"We were just... you know. Right Gar?"

"Yup. Just..."

"Going to take a nap."

Gar snapped his fingers in agreement.

"I am beat, y'know." he said, stretching his arms out in a fake yawn.

"So tired." Victor agreed, leaning back in the bat-chair and shutting his eyes.

Gar shifted into a cat and stretched at Victor's feet, curling into a ball and shutting his eyes. Tim shook his head and headed back up the stairs. He wasn't angry that they had looked him up, after all, he had done his research on _them_. It was only fair, right. The topic to him was far past emotion-tugging anyway. It seemed to have happened so long ago that he barely reacted when he heard about them. The only reminders he had was the frequent visits of the police and adoption agency.

Everyone wanted to know if he was settled in. If he was happy. If he was hurting. If Bruce ever hurt him. Because apparently, 'they were only one phone call away'. Which was a total lie, but he always smiled and nodded when they said that anyway. Like the thought gave him some mental comfort or something.

It wasn't like he had loved his parents like Bruce had loved his. Tim had had an associate/business relationship with both of his parents from the beginning. If anyone ever asked if he knew his parents, he'd tell them no. The only thing he had known about his parents were their bank account numbers, passport id tag numbers, and phone numbers. Anything that had to do with numbers was his specialty. He'd done a background check on his father once, when he was younger, if that counted for 'knowing' him. Of course, he could barely hack a soda machine then so he had to stick with newspaper headlines and such, but that had been enough for him, then.

It had been the start of a background check frenzy.

He wasn't sure why the constant checking up on him was necessary. He didn't ache to play baseball with his father or cry because he wanted to hear his mother's voice. From year 1 he had been shipped off to boarding school, so it wasn't like he was used to being around them anyway. And yet, he played the part of the nice little orphan now. Pretending he didn't see the police cars on the corner that were clearly waiting for him. Pretending the police officers at his school were there for _everyone. _He was a pretty good actor if he could say so himself. His role was a dull one, but it could be fun to play around with them a he wondered though, if people only paid so much attention to him because his mother had been high-class. She was well standing, not too far from Bruce's rank. His father had been dirt poor, though. He lived off of his wife for everything, but Tim didn't think he had minded. He had lived a petty life of crime and to marry someone with money must have been a pleasant change.

Tim was halfway up the stairs before he looked back at Victor and Gar. They both actually looked like they were going to sleep. He wouldn't be surprised if they were. Lately, they'd been used to waking up at 9 and 10. Bruce barging in at 6 may have shaken that schedule up a bit.

But actually, a nap was sounding pretty nice at the moment. The toxin he'd been given didn't make him as drowsy as Ryan, but then, the toxin didn't numb him as much either. Nevertheless, he felt _so _much better, if not a little sleepy. He could see himself now, curled up in a chair in one of the hidden, unused rooms. He liked his privacy and a hidden room was just what he needed.

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_Control. Order. Balance._

_ Peace. Calm. Tranquility. _

The words all molded together and created a soft chant that was both relaxing and restful.

Dick tried to change the black space he and Kory were floating in. The space was nice enough to focus in, but the blackness was hard to get comfortable in. He felt paranoid with his eyes closed.

After breakfast, Rachel had all but put him in a meditative stance herself. She was apparently tired of holding their powers back, and insisted they meditated so that she could have a rest. What could he say to that?

He had gone to his room for some quiet, but Kory had sought him out, disturbing his unsuccessful meditation session. As soon as she joined his meditation though, _bam_, like magic, they were sent to a dark place in his mind. And which was why he was trying to lighten it up a bit. He knew it could be done, he'd seen Rachel do it in Kory's mind before.

_Maybe we should try to visualize at the same time._ Kory offered.

_**Alright. **_He agreed.

He tried to keep his focus light. Thinking too hard might result in destroying something in the real world. And Rachel would yell at him again because she'd be the one to restrain their powers. It wasn't her fault she was cranky though. She hadn't had her tea in a few days and her meditations were always interrupted. He supposed he'd be cranky too if he was her.

He breathed out a mental breath and tried to visualize a calming place. Somewhere he could think and clear his head. Instantly, the training room at the tower came to mind, but he pushed the thought away. That was _his _comforting place, besides, it wasn't a place to relax. Instead, he tried to think of a place both he _and _Kory could relax.

He was focusing hard, but he noticed the darkness he was in shift to a lighter gray tone. And even still if got brighter, changing into a dark purple and pinkish color. He wasn't sure where his mind was going with this, but he kept his mind focused.

Through cracked eyes, he could see Kory right in front of him, crossed legged and floating. Her eyes were closed and she was mouthing her mantra. He closed his eyes back and did the same.

_Richard, we did it._

His eyes snapped open and the first thing he noticed was the setting sun in the distance. A few fighting stars showed themselves and some distanced clouds held wispy rays of the suns last night, but Dick got the feeling the sun wasn't going to move. This was their minds, and if they didn't want the sun to set, then the sun wasn't going to set, right?

Turning from the setting sky, Dick realized they'd materialized an exact replica of the Tower's roof. From the stones and rocks he'd memorize over time to the high tide that always came with dusk. He couldn't say he was surprised they'd managed to get themselves to the towers roof, it had always been their spot, after all.

_**Are you surprised?**_

He asked, dropping from his meditative stance. He was pleasantly surprised when he found he kept that calming feeling of meditation. Maybe just being here was enough to get his powers under control.

_Not in particular._

She dropped from her stance as well, walking to the edge of the tower and breathing in the warm breeze that was blowing. She had her back to her and folded her arms around herself. She was still using short sentences. Dick sighed, she had a right to be, after all.

_**Your still mad.**_

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He made his way beside her, and looked out towards the ocean as well.

_I'm not mad., _she said, carefully,_ I am just... confused._

_**You have a right to be. This is all my fault.**_

She hummed to herself, as if confirming this.

_**I had no idea you already knew Barbara, **_he said, biting the bullet, **_If you couldn't already tell, she and I were friends as kids. Nothing more, but I did have a crush on her. _**

_She never told me either... at least, I don't think she did._

_**Your short-term memory... that's my fault too.**_

He ducked his head as her head snapped towards him. He wasn't sure if 'blush' showed up in 'mental world' but he knew he was shading from embarrassment.

She circled around him, so she could look him in his face. The good ol' look-you-in-the-face guilt trick. Just what he needed.

_Why would you do that? _She asked, nearly whispering, and it was evident she was more hurt than she had ever let on. _Why did you do any of that?_

_**I don't know. **_ He shrugged, shaking his head, **_I guess... I guess I thought I was protecting you from her. I... no, I was just being selfish. The thing between me and her, it was over, I moved on. I... you... I just didn't want you to know, I'd liked her before._**

Her eyebrows knitted together and he knew the question that was coming before she even asked.

_But why? What does it matter that you liked her before? And why wouldn't you want her near me now?_

_**Isn't it obvious?**_ He asked, cracking a side smile at her naïvety. A hard breeze blew and he took the moment to brush her hair from her face, but refused to move his hand from her cheek. **_I thought you knew._**

_Knew what? _She asked slowly, and he took a deep breath.

_**Kory from the start, the first time I saw you, from the gecko, the beginning, whatever, I've always felt something for you. Maybe it was just... attraction at first. Nothing more than admiration. But from our first mission on, when I took an unusual amount of hits. When I found that I was looking more at you than our enemy. When I first caught you. I knew it was more. I know I've always known I liked you, I'm just not sure when I started loving you.**_

She was looking at him, like he was telling a good romance story, and it made him laugh a little. So much for taking baby steps, he totally took the plunge.

_**I'm not looking for a confession from you. Or asking that you even respond to me right now. But I needed you to know that I never meant to hurt you, and that everything that's happened is a strange and stupid and cruel spin on the fact that I love you more than any sensible knowledge that could ever possibly exist.**_

_So you mean to tell me, _she said slowly, _that the memory loss, and story about being hit by a waiter, and the horrible panic attack... was a result... of you liking me?_

_**Loving, you. **_He corrected.

_Loving me. _She repeated.

It was quiet for a minute and his 'mind heart' was beating faster than he had ever remembered. This wasn't the way things were supposed to turn out, and it had him on edge. Butterflies flew around in his stomach and he wasn't sure whether or not he needed to vomit.

_**I know, **_he said when it was quiet for too long, **_that I said I wasn't expecting a response from you, but it would be nice to know where I stood._**

He sounded pathetic, like he was begging. But in a way, he was. And it was just him and her. If he couldn't beg in front of her, then how could he truly say he loved her?

_I would be lying, _she said, face straight, _if I said I did not admire you._

It wasn't _his _confession, but it was better than a flat out no, right?

_**So, you kinda like me?**_

Her straight face broke out into a grin as she shook her head no. He couldn't help a small smile on his face, but his eyes held confusion at what she was so happy about if she didn't like him.

_No, I love you._

That was so much better than like. So, _so_, much better. The little butterflies that was in his stomach were gone and the feeling was so gratifying that he felt like he could fly. Of course, flying wasn't as easy in 'mind world' than it was in the real world, but the feeling still remained. An awkward moment passed, and he found that he was staring way to intensely at her.

_**We should get back to the real world now, **_he said, looking out again over their mind-made ocean, **_Who knows how long we've been here._**

_It is not like we can't come back, _she said, moving from arms distance and wrapping her arms around his waist, _This is our place, is it not?_

_**Definitely our place.**_

He pulled from his mental frame and found himself traveling at what seemed like light-speed back to the real world. It was a feeling he didn't think he'd ever get used to, going back to his real body, but he was feeling so elated that the nauseous feeling he normally got wasn't anything more than a mere bother.

He expected to find himself floating above his bed, like he'd last remembered himself being, but was thoroughly surprised when he found himself looking at his bed from what seemed like a bird's eye view.

He shifted a bit, knocking his head on something hard. It wasn't until he shifted around some more that he realized he'd hit his head on the ceiling.

"Nice." he muttered to himself, hearing in return a loud giggle.

He couldn't fully spin himself around, so he looked upside at Kory, who had righted herself in flight expertly.

"Happy, much?" he asked, getting another giggle from her.

"Very much so."

"You wanna help me down?" he asked, though humorously, only for her to float on her back and shake her head.

"This is too hilarious to pass up on." she smiled, "I think I ought to let you stay up here for a while."

"So not funny," he said, twisting his body and trying to righten himself. "This is hard."

"It isn't hard," she objected, circling him.

"Easy for you to say, you've been flying since you were a baby."

"True."

She watched a moment as he twisted for a moment, before taking his hand and pulling him back to the ground. Even then, though, his feet lifted off the ground and he grabbed on to her waist so that he didn't float back to the ceiling.

"Get comfortable," he told her, "I may be stuck to you forever."

"I wouldn't mind," she told him, spinning around to face him.

"I'm sure," he laughed, but watched as her face got thoughtful.

"Does this," she began, "Does this make us... boyfriend and girlfriend?"

He made himself look thoughtful, purposefully taking his time to respond to her.

"I don't know," he dragged out slowly.

"Richard." she scolded, and he laughed again.

"Okay, okay." he gave in, "Yes, we are girlfriend and boyfriend."

She had an odd look of satisfaction on her face, as if the title meant more to it than it did. Honestly, to him, he didn't care what they were called, as long as he got the privileges and she knew how he felt. But he supposed he should have expected it. Her favorite channel was Hallmark and her favorite type of movie was chick-flick. She liked that sappy kind of stuff.

When he found himself able to stay grounded, he made his way to the door, planning on finding something to eat.

"I'm starving," she agreed, "I had nothing to eat all day."

Dick opened the door, only to almost run into Rachel, who had been headed down the hallway.

"Hey," she said, "You haven't seen Tim or Ryan, have you."  
>"No," Dick said, while Kory shook her head, "Why?"<p>

"Just a forewarning," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Isn't that kind of serious?" he asked, concern already surfacing on his face.

"Yeah, it is." Rachel told him, but she didn't elaborate on it any further and he figured she wasn't quite sure what was happening just yet.

"Where is everyone else?" Kory asked, sensing the need for a new subject.

"Nick went with Bruce," Rachel told them, "I don't know where Tim and Ryan are, Alfred is making dinner, and Vic and Gar are in the cave asleep."

"There asleep?" Dick asked, a previous plan rising in his mind. "Your sure?"

Rachel _pfted, _and left down the hallway, as if the idea of her being wrong was totally idiotic.

"Is that such a far-fetched idea?" Kory asked him, "They practically live on naps."

"No," Dick said, going back into his room and shutting the door behind Kory, "I was just waiting for such a thing, actually."

"You were waiting for them to be asleep?" Kory asked, "Why?"

"Little favor I owe Nick."

"You aren't going to do anything mean, are you?"

"Mean?" he asked, his hand dramatically going to his heart, "Why I would never."

"Richard," she scolded, but he sensed no real anger.

"Its nothing mean," he confessed, sitting on his bed in a meditation form, "I just need them to better understand... us."

"Us? As in, you and I?"

"No, me and Nick. Apparently, they have some false information about us. They think life's been nothing but a walk in the park. Just easy as pie. I just want to set the record straight. Its been bugging Nick and I think its high time _someone_ did something about it. A little day-in-the-life dream ought to handle things."

Kory hummed her hesitation, and sat across from him on his bed. "I'm coming with you."

Dick shrugged, and took her hand.

Was he proud of what he was about to do? No, not really. But he wasn't hurting anyone and sometimes, a brother has to seek revenge for his brother, right? And it was time to get the old Nick back, anyway.

* * *

><p>AN: And that's all she wrote... for today, anyway. I sneaked some steamy time in there. You now know a little bit of what went on in their heads (or at least Dick's) during the healing process. And oh yeah, while I was at it, ended up doing a little fluff seen. How long have you guys seriously been waiting for them to get together? I mean, seriously.

In a way, I think that's kind of cool. You guys waited around like, forever, and so did the rest of the Titans. *Giggle*. Your just like them!

Anyway, strange turns up ahead as we come to a conclusion. How snazzy is that?

How come no one says snazzy anymore? That's such a cool word!

Anyway, **_Read and__ Review_** for awesomeness outcomes to your life.

_ScarletDrake


	25. Blue Energy

So here we go,

...

Yup, that's about all I have to say besides, enjoy.

As always, I'll fix mistakes later.

* * *

><p>OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo<p>

"Cave." Bruce said, walking by without any eye contact.

Dick looked to Kory and they stood from their extravagant meal of microwave Kraft's Macaroni and Cheese. He was still hungry, but not starving. Dropping his bowl in the sink, he followed Bruce down towards the hallway that held the cave entrance. Kory was close at his heels and Nick had come from a nearby hallway and walked beside him, Vic and Gar right behind him.

"You've got a posse." Dick leaned in, telling his brother and motioning to Gar and Vic.

Nick's eyes narrowed at him, though.

"And I suppose you had nothing to do with it."

Dick tried to make himself look innocent, but knew it was probably futile against Nick.

"Me? I did nothing," he said, his head held up in mock innocence, "Why? What are they doing?"

"It's not that their _doing_ anything, it's that they wont leave me alone. Ever since I got home, they've been on my tail about the circus and our parents and our background. Apparently, they've had simultaneous dreams of our past."

Nick made it a point to sound accusing and glare extra hard at Dick, but Dick didn't buckle.

"I guess they've learned their lesson, then." he said, stepping a little quicker and leaving Nick behind.

His plan had gone through, but their was no need to dwell on it. The last thing that needed to happen was for Gar and Vic to find out that that nightmare they had that was his life was his fault. It wouldn't be well for any future teamwork that needed to be dealt with and done.

Approaching the grandfather clock, Bruce opened it with practiced ease and began the long trek down to the bottom.

Dick was last, about to head down himself when he was stopped by a black shield. He rolled his eyes, but waited patiently for Rachel to show herself. Their was a small nudge of pressure at the back of his mind; Kory, wondering where he was, but he dismissed her, knowing she'd get the message that he'd join in a moment.

"Happy?" Rachel asked, appearing behind him.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, turning to face her.

"You can barely stay grounded. Expected from Kory, but from you?"

"A guy can be happy if he wanted to." he said, shrugging, but Rachel didn't seem convinced.

"Anyway," she said, getting to her real situation, "You haven't seen Ryan have you?"

"Your still looking for them?" Dick asked, uneasiness setting in where nonchalance had previously been. "How long have you been looking?"

"On and off for about an hour and a half. Tim's in here somewhere but Ryan isn't."

A million and one different things could have happened. Ryan may have gone out for a fly, it always helped Kory when she felt troubled. Maybe he'd gone for a walk and got lost. Maybe he'd gone for a walk and was still walking. Who said something bad had to be the result?

"That isn't all." Rachel continued, which shouldn't have surprised him.

When _is _the simple solution all?

"This morning," she said, "During breakfast, I don't think Tim nor him were well."

"Kory and I noticed that," Dick agreed, "Might just be a bug."

"It's no bug. I tried to heal them, or at least get a good read. Its more of an injury than an internal sickness."

Injury? There was no way that was possible. The only action they had seen involved that dinner party they'd had for Bruce. And both boys had seemed completely fine after that. It was just... during dinner they'd seemed... drowsy, out of it.

But then...

"He's healing isn't he?"

Rachel nodded her head at him. Of course. He should have seen it before. Kory always got like that after a particularly nasty fight. It was her way of healing. Ryan and Tim had shown the same exact side effects.

"But Tim," he said, "How is he involved in the healing process?"

"No idea." Rachel said with a shrug. "All I know is Ryan is missing."

"And how did they even get those injuries?"

There was a ruckus and the grandfather clock opened back up. Everyone, minus Bruce, had somehow clamored back up the stairs at the same time.

"They went out last night." Gar pipped up, "Nick called the West's and got the story from Wally."

"This is taking too long." Rachel muttered, and suddenly, her pointer and middle finger were on Dick's head and images flashed before his eyes.

Nothing made since, things just being a jumble of words and sounds and images, before Rachel uttered her mantra. And suddenly, he felt like he'd watched, observed, and taken notes for a movie all in under five seconds.

"So Wally said-" Gar continued.

"Its fine," Dick interrupted, "I'm up to speed."

"So they're gonna be punished, right?" he asked, getting a slap from Victor.

"Why should they be?" Dick shrugged, "They ran away, started a make-shift team, and essentially did exactly what they weren't allowed to do. Sounds fine to me."

"I don't normally agree with the grass stain," Vic spoke up, "But I think he's right on this one. This was pretty serious. _Something_ might be in order."

"I'm not their dads." Dick argued, opening the grandfather clock back up, "Besides, I can't punish them for something I did a few years ago."

"I told them." Nick agreed, following him down the stairs.

"We _do_ have another serious problem, though." Dick said, as they reached the bottom. "Ryan's missing."

He said it straight forwards because he wanted the outcome to be straight forward. A simple problem requiring a simple solution. Ryan was missing. Ryan needed to be found. They needed to find Ryan. Things were always better when they were spelled out plain and simple.

A) So first, they figure out what Bruce wanted.

B) Then they search for Ryan.

Two steps to two things that needed to be handled immediately. Easy.

"I don't like waiting." came Bruce's voice, and they all moved a little faster.

By time they got to the computer, he'd already pulled up some Wayne documents and receipts. Bruce rarely looked at his own receipts. Other peoples, yes. But his own? Something big was up.

"Nick and I went and checked on the enterprise." he stated.

"I told him about the dinner we'd had as well." Nick said. "It appeared to be we were celebrating something. I wanted to be sure of what it was."

"Apparently," Bruce cut in, "It was for a double purpose. The completion of a big product, and the sell of said product."

"What did you sell?" Gar asked, his face so close to the screen the picture was reflecting on his face.

"The Chthonian Omnify Retrorse Eversion."

"I see." Gar said, a hand rubbing his chin as he nodded, "And tell me, what exactly _is _the chromosome ominous reverse erosion thingy?"

"It's short for CORE," Nick explained, "It was a machine Wayne Enterprises had been working on for years, but it was shut down due to its unbalanced nature."

Nick waited for Bruce to pull up a picture before he continued. The blueprints showed up, along with proud finished photos, some with Bruce himself smiling or pointing at the finished machine. Overall, the machine looked to be a decked out telescope. A giant glass bulb was on the side of it, looking more like a bubble than something important.

"It was built to protect earth from incoming asteroids and, should the need ever arise, a planet or star that strayed too close to the planet, moon, or sun."

"The machine," Bruce interrupted, taking over, "has the ability to shoot a beam that can penetrate into a rocks core and heat it up to the point of instability."

"Making it implode." Victor finished off with a whistle.

"Dude," Gar said, shaking his head, "Why would you sell something that powerful?"

Bruce glared into the computer screen and everyone but Gar caught the reflection.

"Maybe that was your part in all of this," Dick said, changing to subject, "The project was dropped a year or two ago, and suddenly it starts up again? Gunner and Slade knew you'd never start it up again due to all the unknown variables in the machine. Brain washing you to get the project finished and sold without any suspicion would be their only choice."

"It sold for a hundred bucks." Nick said, and there was sudden silence.

A 50 billion dollar machine was sold for a hundred dollars. That was practically giving it away. No wonder Bruce was being so impatient. Or, rather, more impatient than usual.

"These blueprints," Victor said, looking closely at the screen, "I don't see any power source or mention of electricity."

"Something tells me it doesn't plug into the wall." Rachel added, "Something this big must have its own source of energy."

"I've asked around," Bruce said, shutting the computer down and standing up, "CORE wasn't built with a power source. It has a serious o f keys that must be inserted and an alternative power source in order for it to even start up. Apparently, though, there isn't a power source that can give off enough power without overloading the systems and frying the circuits. It was purposely designed to have a complicated power source mechanism, in case the machine ever _did_ fall into the wrong hands."

"It would explain why no one batted an eyelash when it was sold," Gar said with a shrug, "The stupid thing doesn't even work.."

"It can with the right person." Kory mentioned, "If Gunner and Slade want the machine, they must know of a power source that can make the machine work. They already have the keys they need to start the machine up."

"Even if they had a power source," Bruce noted, "They could never hack the system. There's a series of complicated codes and answers that must be answered in order for the machine to start up and work. I've checked out the paperwork myself. The answers were never written down or recorded, and the questions are personal to only me. There answers even I would need to think about. No one but me could start that machine."

With that, Bruce headed up the stairs, probably to do more research on his own.

"But they have to know enough," Gar said, "Why else would they go through so much trouble to get the machine?"

"There are still too many unknown variables," Nick commented, "We'll be fighting the only people who can give us the answers."

"We'll think about it later," Dick cut in, "We've heard Bruce out and he's giving us some things to think about. But for now, we need to go out and find Ryan. The last thing we need is for Luther to get his hands on him again."

There were nods of agreement and they left the cave through the batmobile entrance. Following the path around to the side of the house, Dick saw an odd look cross Gar's face. It was a mixture of disgust, familiarity, and curiosity. Watching him from the corner of his eye, Dick saw Gar walk ahead a little faster and stop at the in ground pool.

It was usually covered up in the winter, but apparently the wind had blown the cover away. The sun was setting and it cast an eerie look on the water, but Gar continued to look in its depth. The pool was wide, and dense trees blocked going around it. Rachel placed a shield over the water and they walked over, but Gar still looked on a little deeper. But with a shake of his head, he moved on to the back of the house with the rest of the team.

Deciding that he'd ask about it later, Dick took charge again.

"Kory and I will take to the skies," he spoke, "Rachel, you and Gar search downtown and Nick and Vic will search uptown. Ryan's not used to the area, so he'll either be in plain sight or out of sight. Be sure to search both."

"Not to mention some other variants," Nick added, "Like his super-speed."

"And with that said," Rachel scoffed, "He can be anywhere."

"He probably wont use his super-speed if he doesn't know where he's going," Vic said, "But I'll do some calculations and see if I can get a radius set up."

"Right." Dick said, nodding to them. "Titans Go."

Kory instinctively took his hand, and closing his eyes, he focused on the light feeling that seemed to be lifting him up. He pushed the thought of falling out of his mind and followed Kory up until they were just a few feet below the clouds.

"Should we pick a direction?" she asked, looking around herself, her brows furrowed in worry. "I don't think he would just run off. Especially without telling me."

"Calm down." Dick said, taking both her hands and pressing their foreheads together, "We shouldn't just wing it. Lets just calm down, and try to get a direction."

"You mean sense him?" she asked, "But we don't know how. The only person I've ever successfully found was you."

"Relax." he told her again. "We'll find him."

He could tell she was trying hard to calm herself down, but from the moment he blurted it out in the cave she'd been tensed. Which was expected, but he hadn't realized just how wound up she'd have been.

His first act of being her boyfriend: ignore her feelings.

A great start.

She took a deep breath, and he felt her mind clear. It was so sudden that she actually cleared his mind in the process. Everything fell into focus. The sounds around them (the birds, distant planes, cars below) sharpened. The sun was suddenly brighter and when Dick opened his eyes, every color around him was seemingly enhanced. It was almost too much to take in all at once.

"Richard."

She said his name, taking his face in her hands. Her face said she was concerned, but she held his face like she trying to be careful. Like at any moment he could shatter.

His eyes burned, as if they were on fire, and he turned his head away from her. His second brilliant act of being her boyfriend: pushing her away.

Glorious.

He blinked a few times and it dawned on him that his eyes _were_ burning. Literally. Things around him were tinting green and he blinked the power away. Blasting innocent citizens from above them wouldn't be so good.

Clearing his head was a lot more dangerous than he'd expected it to be. Apparently, a clear head made powers work a lot better.

"I think I have a general direction," Kory said, taking his hand again. "I'm not sure, but its better than a guess."

"Lead the way," he coughed out, awkwardly.

She chose what seemed to be a general direction for him, and began her flight. Luckily for him, she kept her speed down to a minimum. He silently sent her a thank you. He knew she was itching to pick up speed, and honestly, he knew how fast she could go. But she took her time for his sake. He'd never adjust to flying that fast that quickly, even if she dragged him.

He was so busy trying keep himself not only up in the air, but under control, that he barely realized where he was going.

"Hey Kory," he asked, flying faster to catch up with her, "You know where were headed?"

She looked to him curiously, before looking down at the ground.

"I'm afraid not," she confessed, "I was not following a specific street pattern."

"We're headed towards Gotham's outskirts." he told her, "Bludhaven's outskirts is just beyond that."

Kory slowed down and watched the dirty, slow moving harbor for a moment. They'd reached the only thing separating Gotham from Bludhaven. It was becoming obvious that Ryan hadn't left on his own. If Gunner or Slade took Ryan, it was almost certain be at the location they'd tracked from the key. And that location just happened to be near the outskirts of Bludhaven.

Kory looked at him, and he knew exactly what it was she wanted.

"We can't," he told her, turning and heading back the way they came, "It would be suicide to just charge in."

"Can we not just scout?" she pleaded, lagging behind him at a distance, "We don't have to enter. We'll send out our coordinates."

"Still not a good idea," he countered, "We need to get home and at least change. Barging in in our civilian wear might not be the best idea."

"We can get Rachel to-"

"Kory." he interrupted, stopping and turning to her, "The last thing we need is to risk Ryan's safety any more than it should be. We barge in now and we'd be putting more than him and ourselves in danger. Slade and Gunner have CORE, they could be planning to blow up Tamaran for all we know. We need to think our next move through carefully."

She didn't respond, but she nodded her head, following closely behind him, now. He opened his mind to her, then extended the thought out to Rachel. He could feel Rachel grab onto his mind almost immediately and she in turn opened her mind to the rest of the team.

**Dude,** Gar complained, **This feeling is soooo weird. Its like having a walky-talky in your head or something.**

_Quit complaining._ Rachel scolded, _Its better than nothing._

_**Listen,**_ Dick commanded, shushing them, **_Kory and I think Slade may have gotten to Ryan. We think he may have taken Ryan back to Bludhaven._**

They needed him for something, Vic spoke up, They wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to get him if they didn't need him.

_Lets just hope we get to him before he isn't needed anymore__, _Rachel added, _We should leave as soon as possible_**_._**

Kory shot him a 'see?' look, as if the same thought of action was on everyone's mind.

_**We can't just rush out, **_Nick said, and Dick shot a look back at Kory, **_Ryan could be bait, for all we know._**

**So what do we do? **Gar asked, **We can go in blindly and risk being killed, or we can prepare a little longer and risk Ryan being killed. The way I see it, our options aren't so great.**

_**We do both, **_Dick told them, **_Tonight, we move in. For now, I need Rachel to do a mental search and tell me where Luther is, I have a feeling he's not done yet. I need Victor to do more research on CORE and figure out if there is any way to disarm it without setting it off or blowing it up. I need Gar to get on the bat-computer and do some searching on the Bludhaven area, we might be going in blindly, but I want to know the area. Nick and I will try to hack into CORE's frequency. And Kory..._**

Dick cast a timid look back at Kory. She was fidgety, her flight was sketchy, her mind was scattered.

_**Why don't you do some meditating... for the both of us.**_

Kory nodded, and he felt her appreciation. She didn't want a big job to do either. He dropped the connection between the team, but held her in his mind. Maybe his presence in her would give her some comfort. He found that he felt a little more whole when they were connected.

It was dark and they had made it to the lawn at the Manor before Dick's phone beeped a short rhythm before shutting off. Kory looked at him curiously, but Dick fished the phone from his back pocket. The phone showed a blank screen, as if nothing had happened, but he knew the beeping and put the phone back in his pocket.

The beeping signaled a direct distress message from the bat-computer, but Dick knew Bruce wasn't home. That meant that either Alfred or Tim had sent it, and Dick was pretty sure Tim didn't know about that little feature.

Kory's eyebrows furrowed, but she seemed to sense the importance and severity of the situation. Nick was sure t o have gotten the message as well, and Dick knew he'd call the team in a little faster. Dick kept low to the ground, followed by Kory, and he edged his way around the side of the house. They flew over the pool and Dick entered a secret code in the wall, opening the batcave. It was probably better to enter the house anonymously rather than walking through the front door.

They entered the cave, but kept close to the wall. Opening his mind, he sensed no one in the room. Kory opened her mouth to speak, but Dick put a finger to his lips and she closed her mouth back.

_Whats going on? _She asked, mentally, _Emergency?_

**_I don't know,_**he told her, **_An emergency beacon went off. I think Alfred may have sent it. _**

_I'll try to find him mentally, _she offered, and Dick led them up the stairs.

She wasn't totally ignorant about her surroundings, but Dick knew her mind and focus was elsewhere. He made sure to keep a sharper eye out and to make sure they were both covered from all sides.

_I think I've found Alfred. He's... he's... in a closet?_

_**Protocol. Your probably right. Anything on Tim?**_

_Give me a second._

If Alfred was in a closet, it meant he was safe. But that also meant he had gone in to hide from someone. Which meant someone was in the Manor. Which was never good. It might be Slade, looking for a rematch. Or Luther, looking for an already gone Ryan.

Dick kept his mind open, but the only person he sensed near was Kory and Alfred, who was somewhere down the hall. Alfred would be okay, Dick was sure, the man could more than take care of himself. But Tim was unaware and his fighting skills were far more limited and undeveloped. A good fighter or too many people could easily overtake him.

_**Anything?**_ He asked Kory, making his way up a set of stairs, **_He's got to be in here somewhere._**

_I do sense him, _she responded, _but, he must be asleep because I sense an uneasy peace within him. A bad dream perhaps? _

_**Can you give me a location?**_

_Just upstairs. Besides him, I sense no one in the house. But I am not good with extending my searches, I would not count on my opinion._

Well, Dick wouldn't count on his, so he guessed that made them even.

They'd reached the 2nd level. Technically speaking, it was the mainly used level, besides the first. It held all the bedrooms, though they were spaced far apart. The levels above the 2nd were mainly used for storage and extra space. Dick supposed Martha and Thomas Wayne had used the space for one reason or another a long time ago, but after their death Bruce had most of his things moved to a lower level. Nothing useful was up the next set of stairs, just old furniture and paintings. And yet, Kory found another set of stairs and continued up them.

She was better at the whole power thing than he was. And her meditations with Rachel and that body-switch they had gone through must have really given her an advantage. She took to the telepathic power like it was a long-lost one of her own. She wasn't fine-tuned, and certainly not on Rachel's level, but she had the gist better than he did. He was lucky if he could keep the vases lining the hallway from blowing up, let alone sending out a mental search to find his step-brother.

They reached the top of the stairs, Kory stepping on a loose board at the top and letting out a huge creak that sounded explosive in the quiet house. Dick grit his teeth, but didn't chastise her lack of attention paying. Her mind was elsewhere. It was him who should have warned her in the first place. He had the watch-job for the both of them.

The level they reached was full of mazes of hallways. Most, Dick knew, led to another staircase that in turn led to another part of the house. But some led to guest rooms that never had the privilege of having guests, or bathrooms that never ran out of toilet paper because it was never used. His hat went off to Alfred who kept it all clean and tidy, despite it being unused.

They rounded a corner and Dick found that Kory had located another upward staircase.

_**Where are we going?**_ He asked, he was nearly completely lost in what was once his own home and he doubted Kory knew much better. **_Are you sure Tim is up here?_**

_I am not, _she said, sounded unsure, _I can't tell you where, I can just lead us closer. You trust me, yes?_

_**Of course. **_His response was automatic and he marveled in the fact that he got one boyfriend thing right.

A certain amount of trust.

The next level was just shy of empty. Their were columns of marble, Greek style, stretching from the ceiling to the floor. The floors were no longer cherry wood, but shifted drastically to a dark stone that Dick would have only suspected to see outside. The rich confused him. Their choices confused him. And he never pretended like it didn't. Why marble and stone when the level below was wood and oak? It didn't make much sense to him.

Kory shied away from the wall, which was where he had kept them, and made her way towards the middle of the floor. Dick peeled his senses, staying on his guard, and surveyed the area. He had never been much of an explorer as a child, simply being content with swinging on the chandeliers and surfing down the banisters. The dark upper stairs and giant paintings had frightened him and he had kept to himself and the rooms he was sure of. But now he wished he and Nick had been a little more adventurous. Maybe then he'd know where the heck he was at the moment.

But he'd be lying if he said the area didn't look familiar. It hit him suddenly that the level had been the exact place that he and Kory had first found Ryan. The fight that had gone down was probably more action than the smooth marble and stone had ever seen. Dick was certain he could probably find a few bullet holes in the columns as well.

Kory began a trek down a darkened hallway. Tall windows lined the walls, letting in some of the full moons light. It cast a pale light on everything, and still, it did not clearly win the battle between dark and light. Shadows hung on every wall. Shades and darkness cloaked inky chairs and paintings. There was no telling what- or who- was where.

Dick caught Kory's wrist before she got too far and pulled her closer to him. She may have had a better handle on the power thing, but he was still the better fighter. A surprise bullet could take Rachel off her game. A surprise bullet could _not_ take Nick off his game. There was a fine difference between having powers and not. When you had them, you depended heavily on them. When you didn't, you learned to use your other senses.

Dick was trying hard to focus on both.

"Here." Kory whispered, her sound sounding very loud in the dark and quiet. "Someones in this room."

She'd stopped what seemed to him, randomly at a door. But Dick knew it wasn't random and his heart raced with adrenaline. Whatever was behind the door could be terrifying and frightening. It could be bloody and awful. It may traumatize him for life and he may never be the same.

Under normal circumstances he would never allow his mind to entertain such thoughts. But the environment made certain exceptions to certain things and his mind seemed to run with the idea.

He looked to Kory in the dim light and she looked back uncertainly. He held up three fingers and counted down, albeit a bit slowly. When he reached zero, they both raised a leg and kicked to door down.

There was screaming. Lots of it. It sounded like they'd kicked down the door to a woman's locker room. It was so bright in the room that his eyes burned for a second. He brought his hands up to try to shield his face, but kept Kory a safe distance behind him all the while.

"Shut up." was hissed loudly.

He knew that voice. Could match it to a face even blind.

"Rachel?" he asked, tentatively lowering his arms.

"Headache." she responded, massaging her temples, "The next person that screams gets sent to a deep ditch under the pool."

Dick's eyes adjusted and he gave a chaste look around the room. Garfield held Victor bridle style- which was quite a sight- their faces still fraught with the terror of being surprised. Their mouths were still open, as if they may scream again, and the thought that it was only them that sounded like a room full of women was concerning.

Nick had his cell phone out, alternating between doing something serious on it and looking out the window he was standing besides.

"Friends." Kory said, walking into the room.

To her credit, she kept her voice low so's not to anger Rachel.

"I didn't sense you." Kory said, her voice more questioning than anything.

"I put a block on the room," Rachel explained, "I didn't want anyone else knowing we were here."

"I figured we'd beat you here." Dick said closing the door behind him. "We were closer."

"Rae." Gar said simply, and that basically answered 3 questions of his already. "But we seriously only just got here. Like, 2 minutes ago."

"Nick told us all about the alarm." Vic said, snapping open his arm. "We've already checked on Alfred, but we cant find Tim."

"He was here last." Rachel said. "I figured you'd come here. That's why we waited."

"Can you give me a time range?" Dick asked. "How long ago do you sense he was here?"

"I say about an hour." Rachel announced, "He was in here sleeping, that I know."

"Why would he be in here sleeping?" Gar asked. "This place is scary and there are, like, no beds. At all."

"He didn't put up much of a fight." Victor said, his arm scanning the room. "Nothing's broken. No scratches. Heck, it even looks like the window was simply opened and shut."

"Tim's not well." Dick muttered, mostly to himself.

He had nearly forgotten. Tim had been dealing with the healing process. No one knew how that was possible, but it was. He was not only injured but healing. Which meant he was drowsy and next to unconscious. Someone could have simply walked in and grabbed him. And he wouldn't have known the wiser. Wouldn't have even been able to put up much of a fight.

"Help me with the window," Nick grunted, trying to open it, "Its stuck and I want to scan for DNA."

Dick went to help first, but between the two of them, they still couldn't budge it. Victor was shaking his head as he approached. He waved them over to the side before giving it a tug himself.

"Man," he sighed when it remained stuck, "That thing is wedged deep, huh."

That totally squashed Dick's idea of someone simply coming in through the window. A green gorilla approached, beat his chest twice and gave a mighty heave. When that didn't work, they all found themselves grabbing a piece of the windowsill and counting to three.

They all gave a hard tug, putting most of their energy into the initial lift. There was a crack, as if the window were about to burst from the pressure, and budged just a bit from its hold in the sill. But the moment the window left the sill, a jolt of blue electricity sprang out and coated the window before any of them could remove their hands.

The hairs on Dick's neck stood and he felt like he was on fire. He fell back onto the ground, his ears ringing loudly and his hands twitching. His eyes had spots in front of them and their was a foul smell of burnt animal hair in the air.

The first face that came into view was Kory's. She was talking, no screaming at him. He could feel the exertion in her voice, though he could only hear the ringing in his ears. Whatever was going on was happening and happening fast.

Still deaf to the world, he leaped to his feet. Victor seemed fine himself, but his holograph ring must have been damaged in whatever blast had hit them, and his metal was showing full force. His metal must have protected him broadly. Besides some burnt marks on his metal, he seemed fine. He was heaving an unconscious Nick off the ground while simultaneously pulling a half out of it Gar up. Green hair was still littering the floor, the blast must have singed Gar to some great degree. But he was more awake than not, and Dick contributed that to his former gorilla size. The great stature might have taken the brunt of the force away from his human form. Rachel was still on the ground, unmoving.

Sound was slowly returning to Dick's ears, the ringing still evident but dimming.

"-getting away!" Kory was crying, tugging his arm harshly. "We may be able to catch them."

He wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she blasted a large hole in the wall with a starbolt. She lifted into the air and looked back at him once. The message got across loud and clear and he lifted up behind her.

He didn't think too hard about how he was flying so easily. He hadn't thought particularly hard about a happy thought. The feeling of elation had just come to him and he had stolen the feeling and substituted it for 'joyous thoughts'.

Kory zipped out the room through the hole, leaving a green trail behind her. Dick cast a look back, Victor still trying to get everyone gathered from the electric hit, before following Kory's trail out the window.

He followed her to the dense trees on the side of the house by the pool. She had her back to a tree and was looking around it at something.

He made a less than graceful landing, hitting his knee rather hard and joining her by the tree. It was so dark he could barely see her, but his sense of her was strong and it helped him get a trace of her position.

He allowed their arms to touch as he peeked around the tree to the other side.

_That blast, _she sent him, leaving her spot by the tree and rushing to hide behind another one, _It had the energy of one of my starbolts._

Dick left his spot by the tree and hid behind another one, closer to whatever they were stalking.

_**How is that possible? **_He sent back, **_You didn't do anything. I'd of sensed it otherwise._**

_I am not sure how it is possible, but I recognize the energy. Surely you know that you'd be out like Nick if you hadn't been part Tameranian now. You can absorb the power like I can, though not as much._

Was it possible that the blue electricity that had struck them was actually a blue starbolt? But it couldn't have come from him, his energy was green, like Kory's. If by some sick fate in events, it was Blackfire, then the energy would be purple.

And that left Ryan.

Dick wasn't sure what color his energy was, but blue didn't seem like it would be too far off. But Dick was sure Kory would know if her brother was near. After all, she had located him when he was miles away, finding him when he was near would be a synch.

So how did the window hit them with that energy, and probably more importantly, who had hit them?

_**Who are we chasing? **_He asked, **_How do you know we're headed the right way?_**

_I don't know who, but I sense them, _she told him, _And they had Tim. I'm sure of it. I saw him._

It had never even occurred to him that they may have come for Tim. Tim was young. Inexperienced. Smart, yes, but not smarter than Gunner or Slade. He had no powers or abilities. What could they use him for?

Kory ducked behind another tree just before a clearing and Dick followed close behind. It was strange not leading the way for her, or anyone for that matter, but he did trust her. He had no choice, after all anyway.

Looking around the tree at the clearing, Dick saw nothing. It was too dark to see and the high trees blocked out a lot of the moon's light. But the sound of something, large by the sound of it, started up and bright lights flashed, lighting the area.

The clearing was almost completely taken up by a large fighter jet. The jet lights were bright enough to light the area and Dick had to hope that was enough to send a message back to the others at the manor. They were in no condition to fight, but they had a right to know something was happening.

The jets door hatch lowered, and dozens of guards carrying everything from guns to bazooka's came out. They were in a military stance, standing side by side and looking straight ahead. They were trained in what they did and Dick was not looking forwards to going up against them any time soon.

They marched their way across the rest of the clearing, but parted down the middle suddenly. Dick flew up a few feet, trying to see over the majority's head to see why they had parted, but his answer came soon.

Another dozen or so men marched between the path made, but they weren't alone. They instead, was pushing a struggling Tim forwards.

To Tim's credit, he didn't make it easy on the men pushing him along, but it was clear he was in a loosing battle. His steps were faulty, his walking sluggish. He was still going through the healing process. He didn't stand a chance.

"Walk straight, Timothy Drake." the man pushing him commanded.

His voice was just shy of being human. It was robotic sounding, but even for Dick it was hard for him to truly distinguish. The being sounded robotic, but maybe that was just how it sounded. It was an important detail to know, it being the difference between holding back some and going all out in a fight, but there was no way for him to truly get a good read.

"Trouble is not necessary," it continued, "but we will take evasive action if called upon."

"Eat dirt, puke-face." Tim dished back, and Dick shook his head.

The man behind Tim seemed unaffected facially, but pushed Tim a little harder and Tim nearly tripped over his own feet. The men behind Tim and his guards, were closing in around and they single filed up towards the entrance of the jet.

Dick stood, preparing to create some kind of diversion so that they could somehow set Tim free, but Kory stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

_We shouldn't. _she suggested, _Making a move here and now, especially without backup could get Tim hurt._

Dick wanted to disagree so bad. It took a lot of self-control to contain his numerous strategies of making things work in his favor, but he knew ultimately, she was right. Tim was surrounded by dozens of men that had dozens of different weapons. It would be a rookie move and a rookie mistake.

He couldn't risk it.

They made eye contact and he nodded in begrudging agreement with her. She took his hand and squeezed it. She knew how hard it was to turn away from that kind of situation.

_**We go back to the manor, **_he informed her, already moving back in the direction, **_Then we suit up. Its time we end this._**

She nodded in agreement. It was far past time.

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><p>AN: I told ya we'd be coming to an end soon. But don't worry, there is still _plenty_ of things that need to happen. And even when this _does_ end, I have a sequel already in route so SURPRISE! This story will never be finished. NEVER! Thats an exageration, but still.

**_Read and Review,(and/or PM) _**like my dear friend yodakaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. You are snazzy yodakaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. You are snazzy.

LOL, anyway, I'm out.

ScarletDrake


	26. Let it Be

Ugh, cramps.

I'll spare you any further details.

Read, enjoy, ignore errors.

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The T-Car was roaring down the street in 10 minutes time.

It had taken everyone about 4 minutes to fully wake up. Briefing had taken 4 minutes, suiting up took 2. It had all taken far too long for Robin, but he supposed he had to simply deal with it. They weren't rusty when it came to fighting, patrolling made sure of that, but Robin knew they could be faster and more efficient. Planets could be on the line, and 2 minutes could be the determining factor between a species life and death.

"Almost forgot." Cyborg said, pulling down his visor and pulling some things from it, "Here's y'all communicators back. Thought I'd hold on to them for you guys."

"Sweet," Beast Boy whooped, taking his communicator back, "I've missed it. I thought I lost it back at the tower or something."

Robin flipped open his communicator finding 23 unheard messages. Mostly from the Titans East he supposed. Though Cyborg had long called and updated them, they were nosy. No doubt they wanted the full story from him. Well, they'd just have to wait until everything was all over with. He didn't have the time to converse. For a moment, he wondered if he should call them for backup, but dismissed the idea quickly. The more people involved, the sloppier things would get. It was the reason Robin left a note on the bat-computer for Batman instead of calling. For this mission, they needed precise measurements and order. Titans East weren't known for their precision, especially Speedy, Mas and Menos.

"Alright Beast Boy," he said, focusing, "Tell us again the layout."

"As mentioned before," he sighed, opening his communicator and uploading his files via batcave signal, "I haven't had much time to study this, not that there is much to study. I know we're going to a big building, bigger than a museum, but smaller than, say, a football field. The area is as you would expect in the outskirts. Abandoned buildings everywhere, that may serve as good sniper hiding spots and video surveillance, as well as drones and lackeys. There is a small water body nearby, but as far as I know, its nothing but a sewage draining spot. Dirty, mucky water that holds at least 24 different disease parasites and pesticides. The area is pretty straightforwards. It'll work in both sides favors. It's not well documented though, so that's about all I can get on the area."

Robin was mildly impressed with Beast Boys scouting abilities. He'd underestimated him. He knew himself the area wasn't documented (like all of the outskirts), but he'd wanted a refresher and Beast Boy had gone beyond that. He'd be sure to give Beast Boy more scouting jobs in the future.

That is, if there _was_ a future. Whatever they were up against was clearly well thought out and exact.

He hadn't forgotten that he was going to fight Slade. Whatever fluke had happened before was just that- a fluke. Slade was far stronger and in general a better fighter. He knew Kory and him could never defeat Slade in the manor they had fought, let alone in less than a half and hour. Maybe Slade had gone easy on them, maybe they'd just gotten lucky. Whatever the reason, Robin knew this fight would be different than their last.

"Raven," he said, "Have you found anything on Luther?"

"Not much," she told him from the front seat, "He isn't, per say, hard to find. But he must be experienced with telepaths because he's blocked me out somehow. Last I know, he was in Bludhaven. Not the location we've got, but just a few blocks over from there."

"How about you Cyborg?" he asked, "Anything on CORE?"

"Eh." Cyborg sighed, "The blueprints gave me next to nothing. It really is nothing but a shell. Without Bruce, it can't start up. Without a proper power source, it _wont_ start up. If Slade or Gunner have found a way to start it, I have no idea how to stop it. I'd need to see it in person to at least get an idea. But there _is _something I thought was peculiar."

"Is it the fact that is has a giant bubble hanging on the side?" Beast Boy asked, "Because I thought that was highly inappropriate for a planet-destroying machine."

"Uh, no." Cyborg told him, "While I was looking over the blueprints, I saw that their was actually two missing parts of the machine. Two highly developed robotic machinery. I saw it present in one of the pictures that was taken, but in a more recent one, the two pieces were gone. Nothing was reported missing though, even before it was sold."

"Then its no accident." Starfire spoke up, "But why would Gunner and Slade purposefully take them out? Without them, I doubt the machine will function properly."

"It wont." Cyborg confirmed, "Like I said, their highly developed pieces. Important parts too. From what I can tell, their part of the main central neural mechanism. Like the brain."

"Ew." Beast Boy spat, "Who would take out a robots brain? What could you do with it, learn chess?"

Or build a robot.

But Robin kept his thoughts to himself. Beast Boy was right. What else _could_ you do with a 'robots brain' besides build a more functional robot? Slade was always a few steps ahead, so Robin had to assume that he knew what he was doing.

"There's the harbor." Raven said, and Cyborg slowed down the car and pulled into a nearby alleyway.

They had agreed that driving too close to their location was a bad idea. Once they crossed the harbor, security would probably be tight and the T-Car gave off a lot of different signals. Going in without it would probably be for the best.

"Leave communicators behind," Robin reminded them, because even _they _gave off signals and that could alert Slade and Gunner.

Robin was going through things with the utmost care. At least two lives were at stake here, and possibly a whole 'nother world as well. It was anyone's guess what planet Slade and Gunner wanted to blow up. They possibly may have already blown up a few, just for the heck of it.

"I'll see you again soon," Beast Boy said to his communicator, tucking it under his seat, "You'll be safe here."

"Ok, team." Robin said, gathering them, "Just as planned, we'll split up into three groups of two. Raven your okay with the connection?"

Raven nodded and he felt her invade his mind, opening up their link.

Naturally, they drifted to their partner, Blue Jay with Beast Boy, Raven with Cyborg, and Starfire with him. Not that he'd tell anyone, but Robin would have preferred to go into this with his brother, though he definitely didn't mind Starfire. But it was just normal for him to sneak into high-tech places with his brother. It actually put him at ease. But Robin knew Blue Jay could keep Beast Boy from making a game-changing mistake and that was more important than what he was comfortable with.

"Alright titans," he said, lifting into the air besides Starfire, "Stay low to the ground or high above it, and watch for security and cameras. Jay and Beast Boy will lead around back, Raven and Cyborg around the side, Star and I will scout the front. Worse comes to worst we'll need to tunnel underground. Got it?"

They all nodded their agreement.

"Keep your minds open," he said, one last bit of information, "But your focus clear. We just want a way inside without causing a racket."

Another nod his way.

Beast Boy shifted into a pterodactyl and grabbed Blue Jay by his shoulders, sweeping away low across the street. Raven created a black shield allowing Cyborg stepped on, and they went high and out of Robin's line of sight. Once his team were safely on their way, Robin nodded at Starfire and they kept low to the ground, flying towards the harbor.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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Tim wasn't sure what time it was, but he knew it had to still be late. He was too tired for it to be daytime. He wasn't sure what he'd been dreaming about, but he was glad to have woken up.

His initial thoughts were blank, but he had an urge to turn over in bed and attempted it, only, he didn't turn over.

His eyes groggily cracked open and he was met with a dark room. He smiled a little to himself before closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep. But even in his stuporous state, his body woke him back up with a start. The room he had seen hadn't been his, and it had sent his adrenaline rushing. A fleeting thought ran past his mind telling him it was too early for this, but his blood raced and his back stiffened.

He found that he was already sitting up, but his hands and legs were bound to the chair he was tied to. Thick metal bound his hands and ankles, biting into his skin, and the lack of ability to move make his heart pound. He twisted and turned his neck, which had become sore and stiff being in one position, and tried to get a good lock around. At first, he had thought he was in a small, and darkened room, but looking around, he found that wasn't the case.

The room _was_ darkened, but it was anything but small. Something big lay in front of him, taking up most of the room actually, but it was covered in a big blanket and he couldn't tell what it was. He wiggled his toes on the cold floor, taking note that he was barefoot, and tried to make out the pattern of the cold tile. It looked like a school floor.

Looking up, he found the source of the only light in the room. Their were small windows lining the upper-walls, the moon cast in a significant amount of light. The windows weren't big, but Tim bet he could somehow squeeze through them if he could somehow get to them.

It wasn't much to go by, but it was an exit.

There was a buzzing in the air, also. Tim knew it was the sound of electricity running through the building. He tried to turn his head around and see if their was a glowing EXIT sign somewhere, but he found none. If he was somewhere in the middle of the building, he probably wouldn't find an exit door easily, windows probably being his best bet.

Suddenly, a light at the far end of the room cut on. It was a pale blue color but flicked to a bright orange and then white as it fully powered up. One by one Tim watched as multiple lights turned blue and then orange and finally white. He was glad they powered up slowly, his eyes were already taking their time adjusting.

With the light, though, came a full view of the room.

It wasn't the school gym or classroom he had imagined in his mind. Instead, the room was actually pretty bare. It had a table full of things he couldn't see in the far corner of the room. Their was a folding chair on the right side of the room. But to his left, the entire wall seemed to be made of cells. Or large cages.

It reminded him of the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. An open room, blocked off from the world by tall bars that pierced both the ceiling and the ground. But Tim doubted their were any animals in the cells. Or any humans for that matter. From what he could see, they were all empty. Besides, the room didn't smell bad. It was actually sickening clean smelling. Like an excess of some kind of lemon floor cleaner.

The sound of heavy footsteps filled the room and Tim tried to beat down the panic that was rising. Whoever it was was behind him, his footsteps echoing softly in the open room.

He tried to put a position on the footsteps as best he could according to the sound, echo, and size of the room, but it seemed as if his heartbeat were drowning out the sound and he found himself continually restarting the simple calculation he was trying to do. He'd begun again when a shadow covered him from behind, blocking out the light above him.

"Well," came a voice. "Good morning. Or I suppose, good afternoon."

Tim's first impression of the voice was old. Old and male.

He relaxed a bit. It was just an old man. An old man who had an army kidnap him in the middle of the night. But an old man nonetheless.

He tried to turn his head around to see the man who had approached him, but the man circled him anyway. He was short. The kind of short that meant you were old and shrinking. Even sitting down, Tim didn't have a hard time looking the man in the eyes.

His hair, or what was left of it, was as snow white as his pale skin and was brushed over in the worst attempt of a comb-over Tim had ever seen. Dull gray eyes looked back at him. It seemed as if every inch of the mans face had wrinkles. Even his wrinkles had wrinkles. Sun spots. Hairy moles. The man was the poster of old age gone wrong. Even his clothes, a drab white t-shirt, a khaki jacket, faded blue jeans. It all added up the 40's.

How could this man have _anything_ to do with Tim's kidnapping?

"How do you do?" the man asked holding out his hand for shaking. "Gunner Wilson, at your service."

Tim glared and man laughed, shaking Tim's bound hand.

Now that 'old' was past in Tim's mind, he could make out the scratchy voice of the man. The all too present sound of phlegm and mucus that reminded Tim of those commercials were people coughed because they had asthma and couldn't breathe.

But the name, Gunner, Tim knew it from the Titans files. This man was a big shot in whatever was going on. One of two masterminds.

But, Tim had been under the impression that Gunner was after the Titans. Why would he want him?

"What do you want with me?" he asked, voicing his concerns out loud, "If your after Bruce, you'll be waiting a while. He'll want a full investigation and will probably do some extensive research on whoever you are."

He had actually almost said something totally bad. He was going to mention something about the titans and about Slade and Batman. But he had remembered last minute that he wasn't in suit and Batman actually had nothing to do with things. He was Tim Drake. He wasn't supposed to know anything about Gunner or Slade. He had to act the part of a charity case. He needed to be afraid and confused. He needed to beg for safety and say he'd do anything. He was not supposed to be strong and he was not supposed to know anything.

"Impressive act." came a foreign voice.

"I'd say at least a Grammy." Gunner responded to the voice, "For facial expression."

Tim tried to turn around again and see who the first voice belonged to. Not being able to turn far enough, he turned back ahead, finding that the man, who was Slade, was already in front of him.

He jumped embarrassingly, surprised. Slade had his famous gold and black mask on. Tim found that a shiver had actually gone through his spine. It was something about the emotionless mask that scared him a bit. It was just too unnatural.

"Jokes aside," Slade said, turning from Tim and Gunner and going towards the machine, "You should know, Timothy, that there is no need for pretending. I am well aware of your situation."

"You don't know anything about me." Tim spat, but Slade turned around and Tim began to regret his choice of words.

Slade did not comment any further, though. Just letting out a smug, "Oh?"

And it was that 'oh' that told Tim that Slade wasn't kidding. He really _did_ know everything about it. It was both satisfyingly scary and uncomfortable. Was he important or did Slade simply know everything?

Tim swallowed hard. He'd have to be careful about the things he said around the man. It was clear Gunner and Slade were totally different. Whereas Gunner was more carefree, Slade was down to business. The team of them didn't look too promising for him.

"So whats under the cover?" he asked, motioning to the big covered thing in front of him, "I doubt you're the kind of person who's into giving gifts."

And there he was, choosing his words carefully. But he couldn't help it. He was a naturally a sarcastic person.

"I hope you really don't expect me to tell you." Slade said, and Tim was surprised he'd even responded, "Because you would be sadly mistaken. I don't like repeating myself and I don't see the need in explaining something so mediocre to you."

"So whats the plan for now?," Gunner asked Slade, "I mean, you know its only a matter of time before..."

Gunner trailed off and Tim had to wonder what he was mentioning at.

"We test it now." Slade said, his voice having a weird grit to it, "Though I have the **other** problem under control."

He said that in a way that Tim guessed had to be anger. Slade's voice had still been so calm it was hard to tell. Apparently, they had a little pest control problem that Slade didn't want to be worried about at the moment. Tim could only guess that the 'pests', would be coming to his rescue.

"Move the blanket," Slade instructed, heading across the room and going to the table.

Gunner, did as he was told and Tim cocked an eyebrow. He had somehow been under the impression that Gunner had actually been Slade's dad. He couldn't remember which file had given him the notion, but he was starting to think it was wrong. Unless, of course, Slade was just a jerk and talked to his father like that. And Gunner was a punk for taking it.

It was a weird relationship they had, but the thought was quickly cast aside when Gunner removed the blanket. What lay before him could only be described as cool. Probably deadly. But cool.

It looked like a giant telescope, so Tim assumed it had to do with stars or a planet of some sort. From the sheer size of it, probably about 3 or 4 stories tall, Tim knew it had to be powerful and probably able to shoot, whatever it shot, very far.

He would really love to know what it did, and possibly, the damage radius.

"Fill the power caisson." Slade said, grabbing key from the table and returning.

Gunner mock saluted and grabbed a ladder that had previously been hidden from Tim's view by the machine. He set the ladder up by a giant bubble looking thing attached to the machine. Gunner climbed the ladder and turned a nozzle at the top. The nozzle shuttered for a moment, before a thick, clear, and gray-ish ooze dripped out.

Its slopping sound sounded bad enough, but less than 10 seconds went by before the smell caught Tim's nose. It was a horrible mixture between animal feces and decaying plants. His face scrunched up and if he could move his hands, he would cover his nose.

"Who blew _that _one?" he coughed, "Because I think you need a minute to yourself."

"No ones 'cutting the monkey'." Gunner said, climbing down the latter, "That, your smelling, is melted metals and graphite. Perfect electricity conductors."

Tim wasn't sure what 'cutting the monkey' meant, but he knew Gunner was saying the truth. He may not seem like the sharpest knife in the bunch, but he was right about the metals and graphite. They did manage electricity well.

When the glass bubble was finally filled with the melted metals, and the room stank of the putrid stench, Gunner climbed back up the latter and turned off the nozzle.

"Get Luther." Slade said, another instruction, and took the key he had and went towards the cells in the wall.

Gunner ran out of the room, returning with 'Luther'. Lex, Luther. Tim nearly gawked. A man like Luther wouldn't normally be caught dead in a dingy place like the one they were in. Luther had standards. He probably had his food hand fed to him while someone fanned him with a fan made of hummingbird feathers. He was spoiled and clean.

What could _he_ have to do with any of this?

But Tim had to give it to him, he walked in with an air of royalty. His suit was crisp and pressed and he looked beyond professional.

"Are we finally ready to start this thing?" he asked, fashionably pulling up the sleeve of his suit jacket and checking his watch. "I have a meeting in the morning."

"The meetings got to wait." Gunner said, cracking his knuckles and jumping with energy. "When we fire this thing up, the whole world will be at our disposal."

Why did everyone want to control the world? What fun could it possibly be? It just sounded like a lot of work to Tim.

"The boy?" Luther said to Gunner, impatient. "The less time we spend messing around the more time we have fixing any kinks we may come across. We know the titans are on their way. It's only a matter of time."

"Slade's got it under control," Gunner said, crossing his arms and smiling. "He's thought of everything."

"And its clear you think of nothing." Luther said, with a scoff. "You're a deadbeat and he's an assassin. Their the titans. I've seen what those kids have done and a few droids aren't going to hold them back for long."

"Now listen here," Gunner began, but Slade shushed them.

Tim could almost _hear_ the glare Slade sent to them and the glare Gunner sent to Luther. But Gunner nor Luther argued back. Luther checked his watch again, and Gunner went to work starting up the rest of the machine.

He turned a key that was sticking out near the front. Tim recognized it immediately. It was the same kind of key the titans had found. And the one Ryan had had.

And speaking of Ryan.

Tim noticed immediately the boy with the mop of red hair that Slade left the cell carrying. Tim's heart stopped and any previous emotions he'd been having was replaced with fear and an undertone of rage. He had silently vowed to conscious silence for the rest of his kidnapping, but words bubbled up in his throat and he just needed to know if Ryan was alive.

"Ryan?" he called, when Slade was close enough, "Ryan?"

"He can't hear you, boy." Luther said without look up, typing something on his phone, "Barren Coma."

Barren Coma? What did that mean? Barren: adjective, meaning empty or stripped. And he knew what a coma was. Should the prefix of the word and the suffix be in chronological and linguistic order, that would mean Ryan was in a... empty coma? Empty of what?

Luther sighed before putting his phone away and went over to the far away table. If they ran to it so often, Tim wasn't sure why it wasn't just brought over, but honestly, it didn't matter. What mattered was Ryan's limp body. His shallow breathing. Whatever they were doing to him was putting him in a non-responsive stare.

Luther returned with a syringe.

Tim's heart froze for a moment. Any energy he had had was drained from him, along with the blood in his face. Luther approached him and he could have sworn his heart gave up trying to beat. He felt like he was going to be sick.

But Luther walked by him without a second glance and plunged the needle into Ryan's arm. It would be horrible for Tim to say he was glad the needle hadn't been for him, but he'd be lying if he say he wanted it to be.

"Open the caisson." Slade said and Gunner jumped back on his ladder and climbed.

Luther pulled his phone back out and placed it on Ryan's chest. Slade shifted and Tim finally got a good look at Ryan's face. His skin wasn't nearly the vibrant orange it normally was, instead, Ryan was almost as pale as Tim. But perhaps the most startling thing about him was the fact that his eyes were open. Half lidded, though they didn't hide the dullness in his green eyes. His mouth was agape, and though it seemed he was awake, he was still completely limp.

If Luther hadn't told him otherwise, he would seriously fear that Ryan was already dead.

Gunner grunted and pushed open a lid that covered the bubble- caisson- thing. The open lid let out another whiff of the horrible smelling melted metals.

"Good grief," Luther said, covering his nose, "Just enter the code and press the green button and the suit will work. I need some fresh air."

Luther hurried from the room and Slade one handedly held Ryan and entered a code on Luther's phone. The phone beeped and it seemed as if the suit let out a twin beep.

Slade pocketed the phone and waited for Gunner to hurry down the latter.

"What are you doing?" Tim asked, slightly alarmed, watching Slade place a hand on the latter himself, "What are you gonna do with him?"

"We need the power," Gunner said, approaching him, "He gives off more than enough. The suit suppresses the amount we tell it. And the metals distribute it appropriately. He's the ultimate power source, you see-"

"Enough." Slade spoke and Gunner shut his mouth quickly.

Power source?

Barren.

Ryan was in a barren coma. Barren as in empty. He was simply out of energy. But, if he was out of energy, what were they taking from him?

"You can't take his energy." Tim spoke up.

Slade was halfway up the latter, "Oh cant I?"

"He's hardly giving any off. He was healing before and-"

"Works alright to me." Gunner said cheekily, "In fact, I think things are working perfect."

"But he has nothing to give." Tim tried again, "You'll kill him if you keep this up."

"Then we'll move on to his sister." Slade said, "And when she dies, we'll move on to her boyfriend. Getting the power isn't the hard part. Finding someone who can survive _with _the power, is."

Tim's mind was racing. He was already recalculating a way to get himself and Ryan out of their situation. Screw the window, with Ryan he'd never be able to scale the wall and get out that way. Which way had Luther gone? Left? It wasn't much to go on, but it was better than nothing. But that was a more long-term goal.

Slade had reached the top of the latter, and carelessly dropped Ryan inside the giant bubble before shutting the lid. Through the clear-ish gel, Tim could see Ryan slowly sink. He stopped about mid-way, his body in a seemingly frozen stance, his arms up, as if he were falling.

Slade went to a control panel on the machine and pushed a few buttons. A few lights flashed and the a loud hum filled the room. The machine was working.

Ryan twitched a little, in his frozen stance, and Tim was glad Ryan didn't need air to survive. But it did little to calm him. Ryan was still being drained, and he was still in probably a lot of pain. Every second the machine was on was taking more energy from him. Every minute he died a little more. It was a horrible thing to think about.

"We prepared?" came Luther's voice, and a moment later Tim saw the man walk around him. "Time is of the essence."

"Patience." was Slade's reply.

Gunner circled Tim, going behind him and pushing his chair forwards. The chair squeaked loudly across the floor until Gunner stopped Tim at the machine's control panel. Gunner pushed a button and a keyboard lowered right in front of Tim, a screen right behind it lighting up.

Tim didn't move. He wasn't sure if they were planning on watching some kind of TV program or if they actually expected him to somehow type.

"Last needed piece." Luther said to Slade, but his voice was oddly light. Like he was teasing.

Tim turned as best as he could to try to see Slade's response. He knew the man would be cool and collected about whatever Luther was hinting at, but body language said a lot too.

"Wont be but a minute." Slade said, actually snapping his finger and calling Gunner to him.

"Sladey, everything is working out perfectly." Tim heard Gunner say, "See? Your old man ain't such a deadbeat after all."

Tim couldn't see what was happening, Gunner and Slade were around the other side of the machine, but he heard a swish, as if something had been opened. Their was clicking and clanking- the sound of gears. They were moving, it sounded like, so Tim couldn't figure out why Slade would feel the need to open the inside of the machine up.

Tim looked to Luther for some kind of hint of what was going on, but Luther didn't help. The man actually looked back at him and raised his eyebrows, playfully, like he would to a child. Like he was playing with him. Like everything that was happening was nothing but a day in the park.

"You don't know how much it means to me, Sladey," Gunner went on, "That you included me in your plans. Father and son. We'll be ruling the world, soon. Just you and me. We can take Luther on."

Luther scoffed, "Not offended." he smirked. "Just remembering that plans change."

Plans change...?

Again, Tim was surprised at Slade and Gunner's relationship. Clearly, Slade was the brains. He held all the shots and gave all the orders. Gunner was the exact opposite, actually not being too smart. But he sounded so appreciative of Slade that it was borderline annoying.

Suddenly, there was a blood-curdling scream. An old voice. Full of phlegm and mucus. Full of pain. The screaming didn't last long and the clinking and clacking of the machine stopped as Slade apparently shut the panel door back.

"Everything's in order," Slade said, walking back around the machine and towards Tim.

Slade pulled a napkin from somewhere and wiped his hands, which were covered in blood. A violent tremor ran through Tim, and no matter what he did, he couldn't stop it. All previous thoughts were wiped blank and he was left with a wild sense of panic. His heart beat faster and his head pounded with a new headache. He wanted to scream. He wanted to stop his quivering hands. He wanted to turn invisible and disappear.

But he couldn't. Instead, he was left looking at the blank mask of a killer. Looking at the mask of a man who had just killed his father. Seemingly, by jamming him into the gears of a full powered machine.

Gunner was dead.

"Now," Slade said, putting his not quite clean hands on Tim's cheeks and squishing them, "We're going to go through this together. Step by step."

Luther approached and pulled a key from his pocket, unlocking Tim's hands. The freedom of his hands felt good and he massaged his wrists. But he still wasn't really free and Ryan was anything but. And that was a major downside because all Tim wanted at the moment was to run. Run far and fast.

Slade pressed a button on the machines computer screen and it lit light blue.

"This is the start-up menu." Luther said, obviously reading the information from something on his phone, "The password is a name. Someone close to Bruce who has changed his diapers many times."

"Ringing any bells?" Slade asked, turning to Tim.

Tim remained silent. He wouldn't do _anything _to help Slade or Luther. He knew the machine was dangerous and he knew lives would probably be lost if he cooperated. He wasn't sure if this was his only role in the kidnapping, but Slade had seriously wasted his time. Tim would remain silent.

"I know you know the answer." Luther said, "We both do. And I know your going to give us the answer."

"Why did you kill Gunner?" he asked, his voice scratchy, purposefully ignoring the question.

"I'm not going to-"

"A fault in the machine engineering," Slade interrupted, "The machine is designed to automatically shut down if it senses any traces of blood. That feature was made for the safety of the designers, but unfortunately for it, that shut down also leaves a few things unlocked and unchecked. With a few well planned hacks a lot of things are unlocked for us already."

"We needed a lot of human traces of blood to overload the lock-down mechanism" Luther said, clearly annoyed with the delay, "Gunner provided it."

"Now Timothy," Slade said, looking him in the face, "There is a series of questions you will need to answer, and I know you can."

"You see," Luther spoke up, "You were selected from a wide range of people for a reason. For one thing, you were a boy, and boys are more likely to cooperate when influenced. Another thing, you're an orphan, so no one will miss you."

Luther said that last part in a way the Tim was sure was meant to be a threat, but Tim didn't feel that way. In fact, the words shot out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Bruce would." he said, and though he hadn't meant to blurt it out, he meant it.

Slade actually chuckled.

"Are you willing to bet, boy?" he asked, "If you knew the numbers to do the math, you'd know that we forced Bruce to adopt you while under mind control. You got the smartest IQ in your age group, and even that above it. You are naturally inquisitive and you have a fascination with heroes. You were chosen strategically, nothing more."

Tim wanted to disagree, but he had no leverage. Nothing to fight back with.

"Obviously," Slade went on, "A dumb boy would be no help to us. But your inquisitiveness showed us that you'd ask questions. Your never quite satisfied with a single answer. You must dig, it is in you. And that's alright. Because people who dig, get answers. Answers that I need. We needed you to get close to Bruce so that we could get the answers from you. Your fear of hospitals and tools make you easy to manipulate. And as for your fascination with heroes, well it confirmed that you would not only want to know about Bruce, but his other persona as well. And those answers may also be a need to me."

"Your quite lucky, really." Luther said, "Though your life may be short, the last of it was truly full of grand riches."

Call him crazy, but Tim didn't feel so lucky. He actually felt quite sick. Sick to his stomach, to be exact. Vile was burning his throat but he refused to let anything out.

"Now that we know the story behind your adoption," Luther said, almost bored sounding, "I think you need to answer the question for us."

Tim's nose was annoyingly beginning to become runny. As if he didn't have enough on his mind. Now he had to worry about snot running down his face. He scrunched his toes up, his mind racking for some kind of escape route, but his bare feet _squished_ when it should have_ cracked._ He cracked his toes on a daily basis, whether out of boredom or just a need to crack them. He knew when something wasn't right.

Confusion took over his brain and he leaned forwards, trying to see what was wet on his feet. For a moment, he believed the machine was leaking oil. His heart beat with happiness as the thought of the machine being broken solved all his problems. But the wet substance around his feet caught a ray of the light, and Tim saw that the oil was actually red. If he strained his ears hard enough, he could actually hear it dripping somewhere under the machine.

Realization dawned on him, and simply put, he freaked out. His legs and feet were still bound, but his mind didn't register this. His mind said run. It said get out. Leave.

The machine, was leaking Gunner's blood. And Tim didn't want to touch it or smell it at all.

Luther put his hands on Tim's shoulders and forced him to be still, but Tim fought him with his hands, though it did little.

"How about this," Luther said, "If you put in the code, I'll wash the blood away. Deal?"

No deal. He may be a little squeamish around blood, but it wasn't enough to make him endanger the lives of other.

Luther seemed as if he were ready to explode, but Slade held a hand up, stopping him from saying something else.

"Lets get the table." Slade simply said, and Tim saw a weird glint in Luther's eyes.

They both left to the table on the far side of the wall and picked it up together. He couldn't see from his seat, but whatever was on that table, Tim knew it wasn't good. He wondered briefly, what Batman would do in the situation. No doubt, Batman _wouldn't _be in the situation, but if he was, he probably would already have a plan.

Tim sighed, he wasn't Batman. All he could do was take what came and wait for back-up. He simply had to let it be.

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The streets were very empty. But that was because this was one of the worst places in Gotham, and Bludhaven, was very notorious too. Even the big baddies kept inside around there.

Paper and cans spread out, flying in opposite directions as Robin and Starfire flew down the street. Starfire made sure they didn't go fast enough to leave streaks of energy, but made reasonable time. They'd parked a considerable distance away, so they had time to make up for.

They stopped for a moment, just reaching the harbor. The smell was dizzying, but Robin crouched low and looked across the water, looking for any lights or a sign of a camera. This was it before they reached probable 'enemy territory.'

"See anything?" he asked, while Starfire crouched beside him. "I doubt finding the cameras will be that easy, but it pays to prepare."

"I don't spot anything," she said, "Should we still keep low?"

"Yeah."

He didn't stand from his crouch before flying out over the water. The water rippled on both sides of him, a spray spreading in his wake. Starfire caught up to him, touching his shoulder, and he slowed down. Looking down in the water, he saw a faint glow of green being left behind him before fading. He hoped no one had seen the glow. It might blow their whole cover.

He couldn't reach the other side of the harbor sooner. Being so close to the horrid smelling water was enough to throw anyone's flight pattern off.

He landed on the cracked sidewalk of Bludhaven. He couldn't see much in the dark, but it looked like they had landed in an abandoned part of Bludhaven. It seemed more downtown, because of all the buildings. Every building, though, had nearly no windows, and the ones that did have windows were broken. It looked like a ghost town. Though it may have seemed empty, Robin knew it was a 60% chance that it wasn't. The poor made use of places like that all the time. And you never knew who was paid by Slade to keep a good surveillance.

He looked to Starfire, placing a finger to his lips. She nodded. This marked the spot of silence. They'd use telepathy to communicate from there on out. Unless they were compromised, it was best not to cause a ruckus or make much noise.

_**Stay low.**_

He sent her, taking off close to the ground and staying near the shadows. If there were cameras, they would be in good spots. Even if he couldn't see them, that didn't mean they weren't there. He needed to behave like there were cameras even if there weren't.

He'd memorized the map they'd had before they left the cave. Though he knew where he was going, he had no idea what to look for. Not to mention that it was dark. It was easy to mistake one place for another.

They'd gone a few blocks before Starfire grabbed his shoulder gently. A rat scurried in front of him, a few more behind it, and Robin hoped she hadn't been concerned about them. He landed, staying in a crouched position and turned to her. She said nothing, but pointed ahead of them, through a few buildings.

He followed her finger and saw that a particular building actually had lights on. He did a few calculations in his head and found that the building was the target. He nodded at her and took off again. He wanted to try to mentally connect with Tim or Ryan, but knew the move might not be the best idea. Anytime he did something mental, he had to compromise some of his awareness. He wasn't good enough to focus on so many things at once while still maintaining environmental awareness. Even Raven sometimes had trouble doing it.

They were about a block from their destination, and still, they seemed to stay off the radar.

_**Lets find the others. **_He suggested, and she nodded.

Rachel latched on to them almost immediately.

I see you. She said, Cyborg and I are directly above you.

**Beast Boy and I are on the other side of the building. We see you Raven. **Blue Jay said.

_I don't see anything. _Beast Boy said, _I think I do see a blob though..._

_**We'll stay tight,**_ Robin said, _**Raven, you and Cyborg scout above, try to land on the roof. Blue Jay and Beast Boy, come in close. Star and I will meet you on your side. Look for low-key ways in. **_

Their were mental nods of agreement and Raven shut down the connection. Starfire nodded at him and he led the way.

They made it to the building without any alarms going off, but Robin knew that that sometimes meant nothing. They may have tripped some invisible wire the moment the landed on the ground. Slade was tricky like that. Always a step ahead.

**We've found a way in, **came Blue Jay's voice, **It heads underground, but doesn't look very stable. Shouldn't be too hard to get to a higher level.**

We'll meet you there. Was Cyborg's voice, and Robin gave a mental approval.

Starfire and him snuck around the building and nearly immediately saw the rest of the team, crouching low next to the building.

Blue Jay pointed to what looked like a break in the wall of the building. The building seemed to mostly be made of stone, but beneath it was wood. Cyborg and Blue Jay was pulling out the stone pieces, revealing rotten wood that broke off easily.

As a squirrel, Beast Boy shimmied through the available space and went into the building, shifting back into his human form and helping out from the inside. Within minutes, they'd made a space big enough for them to get in through. If Raven, though, hadn't been still recovering from the shock back at the manor, she'd of just fazed them through.

Robin slid in first, easily landing on his feet and took a look around the room while the rest of the team climbed in. The room, clearly was for storage, he noted looking at the boxes and cleaning equipment. It was hot and badly insulated. Clearly not used often.

Blue Jay walked up behind him, signaling that they were all in safely and so far, seemingly undetected. There was a door just at the end of the small room, and no light was shining underneath. Sometimes it was better to just walk in through the door.

They readied themselves without actually lighting any power and Robin opened the door. Outside the room was completely black.

Robin adjusted his new mask, night vision coming. He saw his brother do the same. Beast Boy pulled out his old doom patrol goggles and they flashed quickly. Cyborg's eye turned green and he was set. Raven muttered a mantra and her and Starfire's eyes flashed white.

They all gave a nod to him, signaling being set and Robin led the way.

The hallway was empty, but Robin didn't see that as a loss or gain. Judging by the layout, material, and tiles of the floor, he guessed he was in a school of some kind. Because the area was so guarded and uptight, getting any information was tricky. Not much about the place was known.

They came to a split hallway, it branching out in the different directions. Robin didn't know many schools that had forks like that in the hallways. He changed his hypothesis of the building being a school to it being a hospital. An abandoned hospital. Odd, but not unheard of.

Strange place for Slade to choose for a hideout. Robin knew Slade didn't do much by accident. He wondered about the purpose.

Throwing a nod at the team, they split up in groups of two. Beast Boy followed him, Starfire went with Raven and Blue Jay went with Cyborg. They knew how to get in contact with Raven should something come up.

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Tim was fading in and out of consciousness. His vision was so cloudy that he could only rely on his memory of what the keyboard looked like, because he couldn't see the keys too well.

"A family doctor." Luther said, and Tim's fingers moved across the keys.

Leslie Thompkins. Easy.

The screen flashed green. Next question.

"Strong adversary."

Bane. Easy. Green flash. Next question.

"Death flower."

Rose. Easy. Green flash. Next question.

This one, Tim thought to himself. His hands quivered at the thought of his next attempt.

"_blank_ Alley."

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No glitching. Red flash. Tim grit his teeth as Slade pushed another needle in his arm. Hot, white, pain spread through Tim's arm. His arms were going numb. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He supposed, though, the numbness was a blessing and his blurred vision was too. He could barely feel the needle itself and he could hardly see a thing as well. That left little room for the panic he felt, just knowing something else was coming.

But whatever was in the needle was concerning. He tried hard not to think about what might be floating around in his blood.

But he couldn't just go down without a fight. Every few questions or so, he'd enter another kill code. He doubted any of them would work, but he knew a few strong ones in mind. He wasn't surprised that he remembered them. Numbers, after all, were his specialty. But he was a bit surprised that his brain was still working to the point that he could even type them in.

"Why are you so afraid of hospitals, Tim?" Slade said.

Tim shut his eyes tight. It was all about control. Every failed answer got him a short monologue and punishment. He was pretty sure it was meant to psych him out, but he took the time to simply focus on his own breathing. He wasn't going to buckle to this man.

"Is it because you remember your mother in one?" Slade continued, "Dieing. Afraid. Do you remember all the doctors? All their needles. Do you hear her voice, Tim? Screaming from all the pain?"

Control. Control. It was all about control. Slade wanted him to get worked up. Slade wanted him to get angry. To get annoyed. To type in the codes just to hurry this up. But Tim wasn't giving in. He wasn't going to let the man get to him. Though he honestly was on the verge of screaming something less than expected from his young mouth.

"You remember, don't you? You were only 6, but you remember. All that pain and all that medicine and all those shots. And for what? She still died, didn't she? Doctors are useless and their tools are cruel."

It was true, they were cruel. But having them sitting right next to him was just enforcing that idea.

"Do you hear her voice sometimes? Do you dream of her cries? She never loved you, but she was still your mother, wasn't she? You didn't want her to die. You didn't want her in pain. But she did. And she was. And you know that it's all your fault. That if you'd never been born, she'd never would have been in so much pain. She'd still be alive."

That wasn't entirely so. But not entirely untrue, either. He had had nothing to do with his mother's death. Every shrink and physician he'd ever saw pressed that idea into his mind like a bad but catchy song. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault.

His mother had been forced to drink poison by Obeah Man, another psycho villain. Tim had been no part of that. But his mother and father had picked him up from Eaten, at London, to go to the Caribbean's for an impromptu vacation/business trip. Eaten had been his posh school for boys that he'd been shipped off to.

"You're a disaster Tim. A walking disaster. You bring pain with you wherever you go and the people around you will all end up like your mother. Suffering."

He wanted to change the subject. He was ready for the next question now.

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Robin was trying to figure out the layout of the building. Without his communicator he couldn't map it out 3 dimensionally, but he could have a basic map in his mind.

So far, they'd passed countless empty rooms full of long desks and storage rooms. A room full of antibiotics proved that this was an old hospital, and that worried Robin a bit. Slade plus old hospital was a scary thought. The man did damage in warehouses.

Beast Boy was in dog form, sniffing for familiar scents. Robin allowed Beast Boy to lead, but made sure he kept himself alert. Beast Boy's reflexes were in need of tuning.

They'd reached another split in the hallway and Beast Boy went to work figuring out which one to take. After a moment, Beast Boy shifted back to a human, but Robin held up a hand to silence him. He didn't need to be told. There was a low humming sound coming from the left. It sounded like a machine.

Robin pointed to the left and Beast Boy nodded. He'd smelt something that way too.

Robin led the way, this time, keeping to the wall and choosing his steps carefully. Him and Beast Boy had climbed some stairs, so Robin made sure to watch his steps. Being off of ground level meant you could fall. Being in a very old building meant the floors were probably unsafe. That combined meant you could fall through the floor hundreds of feet to your death.

The hallway turned a corner and Robin could see a light come from an under a door in a room. He looked to Beast Boy, and Beast Boy shifted into a blood hound. They crept closer to the door, Beast Boy leading, before Beast Boy shifted back to a human. He shook his head at Robin, obviously not smelling any human traces. But that didn't mean there was no one nearby.

Approaching the door, Robin looked through the glass window in it. Behind the door was very bright, and he had to blink a few times. He switched off the night vision in his mask and looked harder. It wasn't a room behind the door, it was what looked like a balcony, but not to outside.

The idea confused him, but he saw that there was no one in sight so he cracked the door open just wide enough for him to get through and entered. Robin saw the green ant scurry beneath the door and Beast Boy appeared beside him a second later.

He was wrong, it wasn't a balcony, but a landing. The landing was a complete circle, looking over and going around the whole perimeter of the room below it. He didn't stand from his couched position, but he looked between the safety bars and over the side of the landing. He saw some tables pushed to the side and knew the landing overlooked the hospitals cafeteria.

The room was large, but not barren.

Robin covered Beast Boys mouth, sensing him about to either gasp or make some other loud noise. CORE was at the center of the room, the machine humming loudly. They only had a side view of the machine, but Robin clearly identified Tim, Slade, and Luther right in front of it.

Tim was strapped to a chair, typing something into the machine, and Luther and Slade were watching on. He didn't see Ryan anywhere, but knew the boy had to be close by.

Robin backed up from the edge of the landing and sat crossed legged against the wall. He opened his mind, Starfire finding him first and Raven next. He had nothing to say to them, but he wanted to gather them at his position. Raven would pass the message to Blue Jay and Cyborg.

When that was done, Robin army crawled down the hallway of the landing. He wanted a different perspective. Beast Boy followed at his heels, in snake form. They passed countless doors, but Robin suspected they were all empty. That is, until one cracked open and Cyborg snuck out.

Robin would have preferred they entered through a door that wasn't quite so obvious, for Cyborg's size, but Robin saw neither Slade nor Luther look up from the machine and breathed a sigh of relief. Robin looked to the wall beside him, unsure why, until it faded an almost transparent black and Starfire and Raven stepped through it.

With them all being together, Robin allowed them to get a quick look of the situation below. It was a tricky setup. Luther was no fighter, but he didn't normally travel without some kind of protection. Slade was the biggest threat. And Tim was bound. Freeing Tim quickly would be number priority. He was smart enough to figure a way out himself. All he needed was a head start and a little persuasion. He probably wouldn't leave willingly.

But any move they made would alert both Slade and Luther of their presence. The first thing they'd probably do was grab hold of Tim. Robin knew him nor the team could do a thing if they had Tim.

And Slade's enhanced reflexes crossed out a lot of ideas too, like creating a portal below Tim. Slade could snatch Tim from it before he even fell through. And Robin knew Slade could probably punch a hole right through his shield. He wasn't as strong as Raven was, but knew should couldn't hold a shield against Slade while creating a portal below Tim. It was too much to focus on.

They needed a distraction. Something to get Slade and Luther away from Tim so that they could get him free. Once that was done, he and the team could deal with Slade and Luther, and find Ryan.

Robin's eyes caught a shadow across on the other side of the landing. The shape of the shadow. The hunched position. Eerie movement. And now that Robin knew what he was looking at, he even saw the pointy ears of the cowl.

Batman was here.

Robin looked at Raven and she opened the teams mind to him.

_**Batman is here, **_he stated, _**Right across on the other side.**_

Everyone strained their eyes to see what he was looking at.

Should I let him in? Raven asked, and Robin nodded.

_**When did you get here? **_Robin asked the man, when he was linked.

**When did **_**you**_** get here?** Batman responded. Fair enough.

_**We're at a dead end here. **_Robin said to him _**We can't make any moves forwards, they have Tim and we don't know where Ryan is. Anything else we do will just be pointless.**_

**I see Ryan.** Batman said, **He's in the machine.**

Everyone, again, strained their eyes. But they were on the wrong side of the machine, he was out of sight.

It was both a good and bad thing. At least they knew Ryan was close by and they didn't have to search for him, but what did 'in the machine' mean?

He's alive, Raven said, But he's in bad condition. I hardly sensed him.

Starfire was eerily quiet, Robin just noticed. And when he looked over to her, she was very pale. But she seemed focus, and that was good. He couldn't have her zoning out. This was not the time.

Robin had been about to ask Batman how to proceed, but Batman must have seen something he didn't quite like, because the next thing Robin knew, Batman had leaped over the landing railing.

Batman spread his cape, the light catching behind him and his shadow on the ground being the familiar bat-sign that people feared so much. Robin himself thought the whole bat-shadow was too cliché, but he took that as a sign to act.

He didn't need to look back at the team as he leaped over the railing as well. He stuck his landing right on top of the machine. His brother landing on it as well. Everyone else filed around Batman, waiting his command.

That didn't bother Robin. Normally, he'd have a problem with that, but at that moment, he just wanted to go back home to the tower, knowing everyone was safe. If that meant letting Batman lead this, then so be it.

Luther looked like he may have peed himself at the surprise of them showing up, but he regained his stature quickly. Nothing ever surprised Slade.

Robin suspected Tim would have a gleeful, smirk on his face. One that said 'I told you so' or 'I knew it' or 'what took you so long'. But Robin did a once over, and the boy didn't look so well. He actually looked nearly unconscious. Maybe he was the reason Batman hopped the railing without so even the idea of a plan.

Slade didn't even get a chance to say a word, before Batman launched at him. Luther saw this and ran for it. Robin took that as an open opportunity.

"Beast Boy," he instructed, "Get Luther back here."

Beast Boy mock saluted before running after the man.

"Raven, Star, get Ryan out."

Both girls nodded, flying towards the machine.

"Cyborg, Jay, figure out how to shut the machine down."

Both boys sprang to action.

Robin himself bent down next to Tim to cut him out of his bondage. Robin waved a hand in his face and shook him a bit, but the boy was nearly unresponsive. He grabbed Tim by his arms and swung him over his shoulders. He was just thinking about where to put him where he was safe and out of the way before he was hit hard and thrown back.

He landed hard on his side, sliding a few feet. He realized Tim had been thrown from his arms, and registered quickly that Slade had actually been the one thrown into him. Robin made literal eye contact with the man, but his eyes flashed away and he spotted Tim just a few feet from him.

Both he and Slade made eye contact again and Robin army crawled, scrambling to get to Tim first. He'd thought it before, whoever had Tim or Ryan controlled the fight. No one could do a thing if one of them were in danger.

Being closer, Robin actually got to Tim first, but just barely. Grabbing the boys foot, he pulled Tim towards him, shielding him with his own body. He knew Slade would begin an assault on him, to get Tim and change the state of the game, but no hits came. He unclenched his body and saw that Batman had gotten back in the game and the two were back in heavy hand to hand combat.

Taking advantage of them both being busy, he picked Tim up again and found an exit on the level. He knew Batman well so it wasn't hard to find the batmobile. He figured that it was as good as any spot without leaving the city entirely. Besides, the batmobile had an automatic homage system. Should anything happen, Robin could always just send the boy back to the manor.

He entered all the necessary codes to open the batmobile without a key and put Tim in the front seat, turning on the health check while he was at it. The car would now automatically keep tabs on Tim's heart beat and breathing. If anything changed for the worse Batman would get an alarm. But Robin checked his pulse just in case.

He was fully unconscious now, but Robin supposed that was a good thing. Tim would just want to help if he was awake and fine. This way, at least Robin knew he wasn't going anywhere.

He locked the batmobile back up and ran back inside, knowing they needed his help. Thinking about it, he should have sent his brother out to do this job, but he knew Blue Jay was more than capable of taking his place.

The moment he opened the hospital door, he was thrown back out of it. He rolled whatever had hit him, again, and stared into the face of his mother. Well, not per say, his real mother. Just the mother he'd come to ignore.

The woman's eye glitched, sparks coming out of it.

Just as Robin had suspected, his 'mother' had been a droid.

The droid powered down, now dead, and Robin made his way back inside. A giant green t-Rex was smashing a hand full of Slade drones. Robin had expected them at one point, but there was an overwhelming amount. He hoped they could hold them down.

He spotted his brother almost immediately. Blue Jay seemed to be covering Cyborg, while Cyborg worked on the machine. A keypad and computer was open and Cyborg had somehow hooked himself up to it. Judging by his body language, though, he seemed frustrated. Jay was holding his own, but Robin knew fatigue would kick in soon. He was fighting overtime.

He sensed Starfire before he saw her. She and Raven were back on the landing. Robin could only guess they had successfully gotten Ryan out. On a whim, he decided he'd go and find out.

He was about to pull out his grappling hook before he remembered he could fly. He had forgotten completely about his powers. He flew up, over his brother's head, but not before sending a strong shield to knock the drones a few feet back and give his brother a bit of time to catch his breath.

He landed almost graceful behind Raven and found that they had successfully gathered Ryan, but immediately, he knew something was wrong.

Starfire's face was near completely blank, but she held Ryan's head on her lap, brushing back his hair as Raven muttered her mantra. Raven's eyes were open but glowed a pale blue. Robin knew the color meant healing. He also knew that Ryan must of really been in bad shape. Neither girls would leave a fight unless it was to save someone. For them to both be there giving Ryan medical attention...

He crouched beside Starfire, taking in the boys appearance. He was wet with some odd kind of goo that smelt bad and was still in his hair. Next to Starfire, his hair looked especially drained and his skin seemed especially pale. His small, labored, pants of breath seemed to particularly effect Starfire.

Robin took in the situation as a whole for a moment. He knew he wasn't needed in that spot particularly, but he couldn't tear himself away. With Starfire in such a venerable situation, Raven out of it, and Ryan unconscious, every male-older-brother-boyfriend particle in him instructed him not to leave the trio. Pointed out every way that any number or combination of them could get hurt.

But his leader side took over. He wasn't any help there. His brother could use the back-up. Beast Boy could use his help. Cyborg might need his computer skills. He needed to leave them.

He hoped back over the landing, pushing the drones back for his brother again, and landing beside Cyborg.

"Keep a lookout for the girls and Ryan." he said to his brother and Cyborg.

Both nodded.

"What are we dealing with?" he asked Cyborg.

"Man, I don't know." Cyborg said, "I can't start this machine up. The power source is gone, but there's still some juice left to it. With it, I'm trying to get passed this firewall that was clearly created by Slade just now. The first and hardest firewall was already broken down. Someone, somehow knew the codes to this thing."

Tim no doubt.

But the machine was dying now. The power source, which was probably somehow Ryan was gone from it. Could the machine be destroyed now?

"If it's dying can't we just destroy it when it's on empty?" he asked.

Cyborg looked at him as if he were crazy. "Man, if we do _anything_ to this thing then the whole planet might blow."

"That's just the point."

Robin and Cyborg turned to Luther's voice. Luther was behind them, tied up with what looked like spider silk. Robin wasn't going to question it.

"What do you mean?" Cyborg asked, leaning down Luther menacingly.

"You kids probably think we're planning on blowing up some distant planet," Luther continued, not at all fazed by Cyborg. "But you're forgetting the one we're standing on."

…Earth?

"Why would you blow up earth?" Robin asked. "You'd be dead too. You could never gain anything from that."

"Call it a suicide mission." Luther shrugged.

"Your not the type." Robin countered.

"Let's just say I was." Luther continued. "What would governments give to make sure this world survived? What would the rich pay for just a heads-up of when? Whoever has that machine controls everything, and everyone."

As much as Robin hated it, Luther was right. If CORE was pointed at the ground and a picture of that was sent to the president, a global outrage would occur. Governments _would_ do anything to save themselves and the earth. The rich _would_ pay money for a forewarning, and possibly some kind of devise to save themselves.

Slade and Luther could control the world. It was blackmail, but it was effective. They could decide who they wanted in office. They could decide what they wanted to be built. They could decide it all. And no one could say or do a thing about it, for fear that they actually would shoot a laser that would destroy the earth.

Cyborg punched Luther in the jaw, knocking the man out.

He and Robin shared a look. The mission to shut the machine down was more urgent than ever now.

"I'm gonna keep working." Cyborg said, turning back to the computer. "I'll figure this out."

Robin nodded, about the turn his attention to help finish the drones that Beast Boy and Blue Jay were fighting off, but he was kicked hard in his stomach and sent flying to the ground and back some.

Robin brushed himself off, jumping up quickly.

Slade circled him, cracking his neck as if he had just finished a warm-up.

"Where's Batman?" Robin asked, being rewards with silence.

"The detective fights honorably."

Which in code was Slade talking about Batman's 'cleaner' version of fighting. Robin knew for a fact that Slade preferred to fight dirty, though he usually fought clean when him and Robin sparred. But Batman was a better fighter than Robin. Robin almost smiled, nearly commented, about Slade needing to resort to dirty fighting to beat Batman.

But this still was bad. Batman was down, at least for a little while, and Robin sensed Slade had a little revenge planned for their last encounter. Robin wasn't sure how, but he knew Slade had gone easy on him. No way could he had defeated the man so quickly. Maybe, Slade had wanted them to keep the key. Maybe he wanted to be followed.

But Slade clearly wasn't in the mood to talk. Without so much as a warning, the man stuck. It was faster than Robin had ever seen and right off the bat, Slade had landed two successful punches to Robin's face.

Robin rolled out of the way of another throw, getting his bearings and retaliated with two swift punches and a high kick. Slade easily dodged them, backing up and into the fray of drones. Blue Jay flew over his head, smashing two or three drones as he landed, but there were still so many left that Slade disappeared in them.

But Robin spotted him just as easy and ran after. Leaping off a drone, Slade jumped over the railing and up onto the landing. Robin followed suite, making a note to self to keep the fight away from the girls and Ryan, who were on the other side.

Slade threw a kick towards his stomach, one he was able to elude. Robin retaliated with another series of punches, all of which found no purchase, and a few kicks. But each time, Slade just side stepped him. Moving out of the way just in time.

Throwing yet another punch, Slade didn't move, this time catching Robin's fist and bending it backwards. Within the movement, he landed a hard kick to Robin's stomach, sending him stumbling back against the railing of the landing. The metal of the railing groaned at the rough contact, but held.

Spinning out of the way of a hard kick Slade threw, Robin jumped to his feet, blocked a punch of Slade's and returned a combination of different punches. When he found no luck with them, he tried another combination, adding a surprise kick. But Slade wasn't surprised, catching Robin's legs and tossing him down the landing hallway.

Frustrated, Robin charged again, getting hardly a foot before Slade kicked him back hard in the stomach. He was pushed into the wall, and used it for momentary support. It was one of the hardest kicks Robin had felt from the man, and he found himself bending forwards and backing up, trying not to vomit. He backed up too far though, flipping backwards over the railing and falling off the landing.

He managed to roll himself into an upright position and avoid injury from the fall, but his stomach was in unbelievable pain. Looking back up to the landing, Robin saw Slade had disappeared. He stood shakily from his position on the ground and turned to find Slade, only to be punched hard in the face. He rolled a good few feet, just barely missing being stepped on by a drone.

He got to his knees, and whipped his head up just in time to see Slade fall from a jump, his foot outstretched. Robin scrambled to his feet, just missing the crushing blow. Slade went on the offence, punching him again in the face and then in the stomach.

Robin fell back, but managed to roll into a flip, trying to get back on his feet. He pushed off with his hands but Slade stepped on his cape in the middle of his flip and he choked back, falling back down onto his side.

Before Robin had time to get his direction back, Slade picked him up his tunic and landed a hard punch to Robin's face. Dizzy from the hit, Robin stumbled back, just barely blocking another punch Slade threw and fell backwards to the ground.

Jumping back to his feet, Robin backed up, just escaping another blow from Slade. He backed up again, missing another, and found himself continually being pushed back and into the fray of drones.

Slade seemed to tire at Robin's constant dodging and moved at lightning quick speed, punching Robin in his stomach again and following up with a kick to Robin hard in the face. Robin flew back from the hit, having traveled so far back that he hit the cell bars on the other side of the room and fell to his knees.

Again, wasting no time, Slade threw a successful series of punches, all of which Robin wasn't fast enough to avoid.

It was strange. Slade usually help back so much when they fought. Robin knew this, it being one of the things that frustrated him so much about the man. But now that Slade was going full force, Robin wished badly that the man would fight as he always had. He almost missed the teasing. At least talking would give him time to catch his breath. He was taking a major beating and aching badly already. His head was pounding. His stomach was flipping.

He suspected Slade had a bit spite against him. He didn't like being humiliated, whether he did so on purpose or not. There was little Slade actually up with, and Robin and Starfire had pushed those borderlines. He supposed he ought to have just been happy that she was left out of their fray completely.

Slade was still eerily quiet. He hadn't said a mocking word sense their fight had begun. If Robin hadn't of heard his voice early on, he might have suspected fighting a double. Even he admitted it, Slade was scarier when he was silent and serious. He supposed that was the mercenary side of him.

Rolling painfully to his feet, he didn't even make it to a proper standing position before Slade grabbed his hair in a painful grip and smashed his face into the bars of the cells.

Stars floated in front of Robin's eyes, and for a moment, he thought he'd pass out. If that didn't happen then he was sure he'd be chucking up his last meal soon.

He grabbed Slade's hand in a desperate attempt to free himself from the mans grip, but _extra_-ordinary abilities wasn't being processed right in his mind. Slade's superhuman strength was the last thing he was thinking about.

He lifted his knee quickly, jabbing Slade in the solar plexus, but even he knew the move was weak. Slade didn't flinch at all. Though Robin supposed he should have seen it coming.

Slade slammed his face into the floor hard, and stepped on it to the point that Robin was sure it was going to burst. Slade added an extra bit of strength and Robin's whole body automatically jolted into every evasive move he could think of. His temple began to bleed and the stars were gone from his vision, being replaced by dark spots.

He was yanked from his feet and then off the ground, Slade having his tunic again, and found himself being slammed against a window.

Robin hadn't even remembered seeing a window in the cafeteria, but here it was. Being the only thing between him and outside. Slade slammed him harder into the window and the entire window cracked into a million slithers, looking more like a stained glass than a window now. Pulled back, like he was a ball, Slade tossed Robin effortlessly through the window, and the already weak glass shattered into a million pieces.

Robin wasn't sure how far he was up and he didn't know how far he fell, but he didn't remember hitting the ground.

He found himself opening his eyes and staring up at pinkish-grey rain clouds, looking as if they would open up and come down any moment. His entire body ached severely, and he knew that meant he had been some ways up. Stickiness was setting in and he knew besides sweat, he was beginning to bleed.

His temple was still throbbing, but he felt fresh stings of pain as well. The back of his head. The side of his neck. His left arm. His right calf. The glass had obviously cut him deeply in some spots.

Lightning illuminated the area and Robin twitched, seeing Slade standing right at his feet.

He made a move to get up, but his body screamed in protest. He ignored it though, opting to finish the fight one way or another. Secretly, he supposed, though, he was waiting for some kind of backup. He could never beat Slade before and he sure as heck wasn't going to do any lasting damage in his condition. Perhaps in a better condition he may have stood a chance.

He dropped himself into a ready position. He wasn't going to be a rag-doll, simply thrown around and beat. He was going to fight Slade, no matter how weakly, no matter what. He'd put on whatever brave face he needed, and push his body to its worst limits. He was going to see this through to the end. He just hoped he would live to remember the day.

Because he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up.

* * *

><p>AN: Who loves when two different scenes come together? I do. You know with the whole Tim's POV and Robin's POV and how they just mesh at some point. Idk, I like that. But I'm weird.

It's a longer chapter for you guys, so that should hold you for a minute. Stay tuned.

Oh and btw, **_Read and__ Review_**, it makes me type faster!


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